DEATH NOTE: Unspoken Rules
by Ihasabukkit
Summary: When Light's checkmate on L is reversed he kidnaps L in a violent act of desperation. Now the investigators are on his tail and Light has to push his ideals to greater extremes to survive, but will he go as far as torturing and murdering with his own hands?
1. Headquarters

**DEATH NOTE: UNSPOKEN RULES**

**Part 1: Headquarters**

Rated T for violence, language, adult situations

Refresher: Ryuzaki is L, Shinigami is God of Death

* * *

3:36 AM. The digital clock on the table blinked at Light consistently, and reminded him to fake a yawn. Normally, he wouldn't be up so late, and so he had told the others that he was making a breakthrough on the Kira case, and excitement wouldn't let him sleep.

Light was seated at the main table, writing notes on a plain yellow legal pad. The Death Note still sat in its glass case in the middle of the table, and the white Shinigami Rem was standing specter-like in the shadows.

Light was extremely aware that the only other human in the room was staring at him. L, codename Ryuzaki, was sitting by the computer monitors, crouched Gollum-like in a rolling chair and nibbling on his thumb. Anyone else would have found it creepy, but Light was used to Ryuzaki's obsessive surveillance. He was practiced at controlling all of his actions, and even now, though he knew it looked like he was engrossed in writing down ideas for 'catching Kira', he was actually writing rote formulas from Linear Calculus so his mind could attend to a more important issue.

Like how tomorrow the Death Note could be en route to another country. L was sending the Death Note to America to test the 13-day rule, and Light realized that L had unknowingly forced his hand. Or maybe he was fully aware of the pressure this put on Light. Of course he did. L's suspicions still rested solely on his shoulders, and despite the lack of support from the rest of investigation team, he was coming inexorably closer to incrimination. Once the fake rule was debunked, Light would be defenseless.

Light felt that feeling of mild panic come over him again, and while his face betrayed nothing, he couldn't help glancing over at his nemesis. Did L ever sleep? The dark circled eyes confirmed that no, L the detective never slept. Light felt some satisfaction that the prospect of imminent death may have been partially responsible for the insomnia. Misa Amane had been released from custody four days ago, and Light knew that L hadn't eaten or slept since then, at least not that he had seen.

L had taken a risk when he'd visited Misa on Touou campus several months before, and knew that Misa had seen his real name with the 'eyes.' But now that he lacked enough evidence to keep her in custody, now that she had her memory back, there was nothing stopping her from killing Ryuzaki with the second Death Note.

Of course, L had no idea that Misa had actually forgotten his real name. It almost made Light roll his eyes; the idiot _would_ forget the one thing he needed her to remember. But at least it was amusing to watch L squirm at the idea of Misa killing him, when in reality his death was approaching from another source. The closer L came to incriminating Misa, something which Light had ensured would not be difficult, the higher the chance that Rem the Shinigami would kill Ryuzaki to protect her.

If only that situation were still ideal. L bit down on his thumbnail, and Light cringed at the tiny clack. He hated that sound; it drove him to distraction. All of Ryuzaki's bizarre habits...damn him, damn everything about him. Earlier that day, L had made a simple comment that had ruined everything. He remembered the moment in photo-realistic detail, a depressive L peering up at him from the couch. _You know, Light, I am not the only L. L is a group of people like me. They know everything I know. _That simple comment, that damn simple comment, had reversed the checkmate.

If Ryuzaki died, the "other Ls" would pin him as prime suspect. They would catch Misa with the evidence Light had been using to bait Ryuzaki, and then they would debunk the two false rules he had planted in the Death Note. That would be all the evidence they needed to indict Light Yagami as Kira.

And to make things worse, Rem had no idea that killing L would set off this chain of events, and communicating with the Shinigami was impossible with Ryuzaki watching his every move. His anxiety level had been increasing all evening; L just had to make one flippant comment about catching Misa, and Rem might panic and take out her Death Note...

So with every moment spelling his potential downfall, he needed to make a move, and fast. He ran over the current situation one more time.

Mogi and his father had left to make arrangements with the US Embassy that evening, and Matsuda had tagged along. They were planning on sleeping in a hotel to continue negotiations in the morning. Aizawa was spending the night with his family, and the only other common resident of the building, Watari, had been absent for two days. Light didn't know of his whereabouts, but it was unlikely that he'd reappear at 3 in the morning.

So in short, he and L were the only people in headquarters, and with the Death Note possibly leaving tomorrow, now was the only time to act. But how to act?

He knew that his usual method of dramatic manipulation ran too high a risk of failure with L. The man was too suspicious and analytical, and he was willing to make leaps of logic that 'sane' men wouldn't make. If Light tried to fool him with an explanation most people found logical, L wouldn't necessarily buy it.

But L had weaknesses. Light had seen the seen the frantic eyes when the crowd had swarmed around them at the university. Even now he could see L's hunched, protective posture, and remembered the man saying that the attention of others gave him cold shivers. L struggled with a deep-rooted social phobia, though he dealt with it bravely by doing such things as attending university. And along with that phobia came hypersensitivity to stimulus. L kept himself secluded in a calm, safe place, and maintaining this world was obviously important for him. Light had a hunch that if this world were destroyed, if L was bombarded with colors, noises, emotions, sensations, and surroundings out of his control, he would become overwhelmed, maybe even panic.

And the final weakness to be exploited; emotional insecurity. The idea that Ryuzaki had emotions was humorous, especially since the other investigators seemed to think that Light was the emotional one, and L was a cold-hearted psychopath. Light almost smirked at the irony. L knew full well that if he showed a hint of emotion it could be used against him, so he hid behind a veneer of rationality and logic. Sensitive L pretending to be callous, callous Light pretending to be sensitive - they had both managed to fool everyone. Well, except each other. Light had seen L sink into a depression when he had lost his confidence, he had seen the facial ticks when Chief Soichiro had expressed anger at him. Those psychological pressure points were just waiting to be exploited.

But he couldn't do that here. L wasn't manipulable in his own element, and to get him out of it, he would have to risk an offensive.

But most of all, he knew L only had power within the confines of their game; the game where they predicted each others moves based on human behavior, personalities, and rationality. The goal was to catch the other by surprise but to do so within the realm of logic, so as to outsmart the other. But sheer behavioral aberrations could never be forseen.

Three feet to his left was the Death Note. Unprotected. Now a new strategy came to Light, one that would make his opponent's intelligence a moot point. It would break their unspoken rules, yes, but a true God didn't follow rules anyways. When the sniper rifle won't work, use the knife.

The nervous energy was almost impossible to live with now. Any minute, Rem could decide it was time to kill Ryuzaki, and then the other Ls, if they existed, would hunt him down…he had to dodge them, turn the hunters into the hunted. He realized he was jogging his leg and stopped himself.

_I can't take it anymore. My move, L. Let's see if you respond how I expect you to._

* * *

Light got up calmly and seated himself by the Death Note. Taking off the glass cover, he laid the black book on the table and pretended to be double-checking something. He glanced at Ryuzaki, who had frozen with his thumb halfway to his mouth.

_Try and stop me without your personal army around, you sick weirdo._

And with his mouth curling into a smug smile, Light pulled out a pen and applied it to the white notebook paper.

L understood what was happening in an instant. "Light, don't!" His suddenly vacant chair fell with a clatter, and he vaulted over a coffee table with agility that would have surprised the other investigators, but Light expected it; tennis and sporadic fistfights had given him a good idea of his opponent's strength. L was also trained in some strange martial arts, so Light stood and braced himself for the coming attack.

_Come on, you bastard-_

It happened fast - a denim-clad knee shot towards his stomach, but he dodged and it only hit him on the hip, spinning him sideways. He managed to grab a fistful of Ryuzaki's sleeve, but L kept his footing and used his body weight to slam Light against the table. Light grunted at the pain, but right as Ryuzaki was about to yank him forward by his shirt, he pulled his trump card. His pen was still fisted in his right hand, and pushing himself off the table, he used the momentum to plunge it into Ryuzaki's upper arm with all the strength he could muster.

He heard a choked scream as the pen penetrated L's flesh, felt the warmth of blood coming through the cotton shirt and the friction as the pen hit the bone. It felt...wonderful. L tried to pull free, but Light kept a firm grip on the front of his shirt, and as there was no need for pretenses, he let a euphoric snarl show on his face. He finally pulled the pen out and let go, and L, blinded temporarily by pain, clutched his arm and staggered away like a drunk.

With adrenaline coursing through his body, Light looked around quickly, and seized the empty box the Death Note had been kept in. He lifted it above his head and quickly approached L. Ryuzaki spun around to look at him in a dazed panic, but Light didn't allow himself to hesitate and he slammed the box down onto L's body. L cried out and fell to his knees, and Light brought the box down again with the same relish he swung baseball bats, this time hitting the rib cage with the plastic edge. L sprawled completely onto the ground, unable to keep his balance as he gripped his arm.

"Stand up, Ryuzaki! Can't you take it standing up?" He tossed the sturdy box to one side and pulled L up by his shirt. He saw Ryuzaki's horrified expression, and it thrilled him, that he could pull emotion out of this man when no one else could.

He grinned and with a yell, flung L sideways towards the table. After his opponent smashed dazedly into it, Light once again yanked him up by the shirt, and pushing him against the table edge, punched him hard in the stomach. L made a choking noise and doubled over, and Light laughed as he then almost casually pushed the man off balance. L staggered and tried to land on all fours, desperately clutching his stomach.

Light straightened and took a moment to inhale deeply, the adrenaline like a drug in his system. He chuckled strangely as he looked down at his now prone opponent. "True violence never went into your calculations, did it." Light took a step closer, and couldn't stop a full grin when Ryuzaki made an instinctive effort to drag himself away.

The usually inscrutable L now looked panicked and helplessly furious. "You bastard-"

"I take one of your rooks-" Light drew back a foot and brought it full force into L's stomach, "a bishop-" he gritted his teeth as he kicked again, "and your goddamn fucking knight." With the third kick, all the air had left L's body and all he could make was a choking noise.

Light straightened again, and sucking in unsteady breaths, stumbled back to look at what he had done. L's thin body was curled into a shaking ball, and blood was smeared on the floor and staining his white shirt. Had he really done this? It was almost surreal. Light felt a small laugh come out, which turned into full manic chuckles. The figure on the ground was either too smart or in too much pain to make eye contact.

_This is what it's like to truly be in control._

To punish people from a distance was one thing, but to physically force them to recognize his supremacy with his own two hands was a thrill he had never felt before. It was pure, raw domination. He ran fingers through his hair and laughed in wonder.

"Light, you're acting strangely._" _

Light turned to see the hulking figure of Rem watching him. He smiled at the Shinigami, and noticed that L's pain-bleared eyes were staring up at the figure as well. "Gods tire of mortal interferences, Rem. Mind games go on forever, but this makes it much simpler. Right, Ryuzaki?"

L didn't answer, and still grinning from the adrenaline rush, Light walked back to lean against the table, propping himself up with his arms. He continued to stare in no small amount of wonder at L. He still couldn't get over how thrilling and powerful Kira's "coming out" had been. This was beating Ryuzaki in the most primal way possible.

He smiled condescendingly at the weaker man. "You acted exactly as I predicted. You tried to stop me before triggering an alarm, and now you've done neither. Let me guess." L was staring up at him in pure hatred. "You felt comfortable being alone with me because if I went for the Death Note, you would be able to stop me. A bit overconfident on your part, no? Almost egotistical."

L still didn't move, just remained curled up on the ground. Light smiled almost fondly. "I suppose you thought you had my character all figured out, thought I wouldn't use real violence to defend myself. You're dumber than I thought."

A noise of pain was all that answered him. He must have broken one of Ryuzaki's ribs, or something more serious than just knocking the air out of him. Maybe he had been kicking harder than he thought. That nagged a bit in his mind. He really had let aggression take control of him completely…he inwardly shrugged it off. He would deal with his morals later, once the situation was completely under control.

He turned around to find where the Death Note had gotten to...it had been knocked to the ground in the struggle, and he picked it up and put it on the table, dismissively turning his back to L's humiliation. He needed to destroy the tapes in the surveillance cameras, and once that was done, he needed a gun for the road, maybe some backup cash, documents-

"You..." L's voice choked off, and Light didn't bother turning around. "Kira..."

"Yes, I'm Kira. You were right from the beginning. But you couldn't pin me down, Ryuzaki. I was too smart for that."

"You're wrong." Light froze as a tiny giggle came from L's direction. He spun around to see L propped up on one arm, smiling in understated triumph. His other arm still clutched his stomach and his teeth were stained with blood.

"What was that?" He tried to fight a surge of uncertainty as L looked at him with that smug expression.

"I said, you're wrong."

Forgetting the Death Note, Light pushed a chair out of his way and retraced his steps, grabbing the man's already abused shirt and yanking him to his feet. L tried to resist, but Light, his arms strong from sports, easily dragged him to the table and slammed his upper body back-down on the wood. L's eyes were wide as he tried to struggle, but Light felt another rage overcome him. He smashed him down again and again until the back of L's skull hit the wood, hard. Dazed, L's head lolled to one side.

Light grabbed the slack jaw and viciously forced the man to look at him. "What does that mean, I'm wrong? Are you gloating about a trap?" An unreadable stare greeted him, and Light almost choked on his panic. "You..." He lifted his fist, but on a sudden inspiration, he looked around for the bloody pen he had used earlier. It was right next to L's head, and he snatched it up in his right fist. Leaning over L's body until he could feel the ragged breathing on his skin, he dangled the pen above L's constrained face. "You want me to smart it out of you, Ryuzaki-chan? I thought I told you I'm done with mind games."

And with a manic grin, Light gripped the pen in his fist and brought it within an inch of L's eyeball. L jerked underneath him, but Light kept a firm grip on his jaw.

"Is there something that will affect me in this building? Look, you pale idiot, don't underestimate my abilities again…I'll shove this right in your eyeball." As he moved the pen even closer, he noticed that L was grasping at the front of his shirt in instinctive defense. Deciding to deal with that potential threat before interrogation, he dropped the pen out of reach and released L's face to grab his wrists. A few sharp motions and he had twisted L so that his face was shoved against the table and his arms were twisted cruelly behind him. Light felt another strange shot of euphoria, and he gave an extra little twist just for kicks.

Why he was enjoying this so much...it was just a task that needed to be done. But he couldn't deny that L's labored breathing did add another element of excitement to the ordeal. Once again, he would deal with the morality of that at another time.

"Listen, L. I don't want any unknowns, and your snide little comment signified there might be one. Tell me what you meant. And remember, if gouging your eye out doesn't work, I can start killing people one by one." He leaned over the warmth of L's body to whisper in his ear, his mind running through the young detective's psychology as he chose his words.

"Think how easy it is to write down Watari's name, Ryuzaki," he whispered soothingly. "Just a few pen strokes, and he'd die any way I wanted." L's body, crushed and helpless under that of Light's, stayed stoically rigid, but Light detected the bony wrist in his hand give a slight jerk. He was getting through. "A heart attack would work, of course. By why bother with that, when I can be so much more creative? What about bleeding to death," Light suddenly grabbed L's elbow and shoved the arm as far out of its proper place as he could. L convulsed in a dry sob of agony. "Do you want Watari to bleed to death?"

"You're s-sick," L forced out through gritted teeth.

_I'm wasting time_, Light realized. Despite it being in the dead of night, he wasn't entirely sure if and when the investigators were returning. And while he could eliminate that threat by killing them all now, what if that played into the other Ls' hands? He wasn't stupid enough to sacrifice his opponent's pawns without knowing the consequences.

"Damn...how can I make you talk?" Light looked down at his captive., and noticed blood was starting to pool around his head, probably from a cut on the scalp. _Probably from when I threw him against the table edge._

In that instant, he suddenly saw another meaning in L's comment…had he actually triggered an alarm to alert Watari? He fought the surge of panic by remembering that L hadn't had time…he didn't doubt himself on that. But still, he'd overlooked the chance that Ryuzaki might have a hidden alarm he was just waiting to get access to, maybe in his clothes.

Light came to a decision and yanked L up from the table. L was unsteady on his own two feet, but Light kept his grip on his twisted arms and began pushing him towards the hardware closet. He made sure to keep track of both hands as they crossed the distance, but he had to release one to open the cabinet and scrabble for a pair of handcuffs.

It took a good ten seconds of swearing and feeling before he found a pair behind the radio equipment and gun rack, but as he reached to handcuff the wrist he had released, he froze - L's hand had slipped into his pocket. "You fucker!" Furious and panicked, Light ripped L's arm upwards and shoved him on the ground. Ryuzaki again tried to land on all fours, but his injured arm gave way, and Light slammed his foot on the small of his back to push him down on his stomach.

With L dazed and immobilized, he quickly cuffed L's hands behind him and turned him on his side. Just as he had feared, when he reached into Ryuzaki's pocket, he found a cell phone. Had the bastard just compromised things completely? A flash of rage overtook him, and he stood up to kick Ryuzaki in the back so hard it hurt his foot. L cried out, this time with a note of anger in his voice as well. "Light..."

_Stay on target..._ he was wasting more time. Light forced himself to take a deep breath, and after a moment, knelt down and roughly began to search L's body for any other devices. It again occurred to him that he had never been this violent before. But he had also never been this angry before.

When his probing hands reached L's right leg, he finally noticed that L was shaking. Curious, he glanced up at his opponent's face, and knew immediately the main cause wasn't fear. Ryuzaki was every bit as stubborn as he was, and to be helpless in front of his enemy, and worse yet, to be passive, was an incredible effort. Light smiled at the idea that L knew there was no point in fighting back…his supremacy had been completely cemented.

So he was somewhat surprised when L suddenly sent a vicious kick directly towards his head. He managed to escape the worst of it, but the force still knocked him backwards a full meter. He hit the ground in a sort of crouch, and whipped around to see Ryuzaki, bloody and furious, trying to clamber to his feet.

"You still won't give up?" Light touched his head and when he brought his hand back, there was blood on it. _Bastard…_ he surged to his feet and crossed the distant between them. Ryuzaki was too injured to strike another decent blow, and within seconds Light had him back on the ground and was kicking him, hard.

Finally, when L had simply curled up against the onslaught, Light stopped. When he resumed searching him for any technological devices, there was no attempt to fight back.

L's cell phone in hand, Light stood and glared down at L's unprotected body. "Did you contact anyone?" L's eyes were squeezed shut in pain, but he managed to shake his head. With his foot, Light pushed L out of the fetal position and onto his back, cruelly aware that exposing the stomach and throat made L feel even more vulnerable. L continued to shake, but fought the urge to curl up for protection.

"Did you successfully use the phone in any way?" L shook his head again. Light decided to take Ryuzaki's word for it. He grabbed the young man by his bloodstained and somewhat stretched-out shirt, and dragged him to a chair. L looked only semi-conscious; his gaze kept unfocusing and his head would roll to one side. He'd probably gotten a nice concussion somewhere along the long. But even so, Light wasn't taking any chances. To make sure he wouldn't make a move during re-cuffing, he grabbed a piece of camera equipment from the table and hit L on the head with it. L completely blacked out, and Light used the moment to secure his hands to slats in the chair back.

Satisfied that L now posed no threat, he left the slumped figure and returned to the table. He thought for a few moments, before dialing Misa on L's phone. His own phone was still in the safety drop box in the parking garage entrance.

Misa picked up almost immediately. "Misa? I need to ask you a question. No, I'm not L, this is Light. Uhuh. Will you please just listen? Do you have the eyes? Yes. Listen, I need you to do it again. It's the only way to destroy our enemy. You'll do it? You're amazing; you're so brave, Misa, I don't know what I'd do without you. I need you to come to L's immediately. Fifteen minutes? Fine."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Misa's legs were dangling off the edge of the table next to Light, as he carefully wrote a draft on yellow notebook paper.

L had been conscious for at least ten minutes, and despite being in severe pain and handcuffed, he'd managed to pull his knees up to his chest. He'd been balefully watching Light destroy all the surveillance equipment, including tapes and digital recordings. He was impressed; Light knew where most of the cameras were, a sign that he'd been thinking ahead for weeks.

Misa had arrived just three minutes ago, and after fretting over the blood on the floor and Ryuzaki's captive state, she'd calmed down and whispered something into Light's ear. L had no doubt it was his name.

On the table, Misa lost interest in what Light was writing and turned to look at him.

"Wow, Ryuzaki, it looks like you got hit by a train. I never knew Light was so strong! I mean, I knew, but I never got to see it!" Misa giggled in her usual ploy at cuteness, and daintily picked up a marshmallow from the table. "Poor Ryuzaki, all tied up, and no way to get to his sweets…oops...I bet you would like this, right?" She cocked her head as she mockingly questioned him. "Yes? Well, then, Misa will bring it too you." She bounced off the table and walked over to the captive. "Ok, Ryuzaki, open your mouth!" Without waiting to see what he did, she tossed the marshmallow so it bounced off his forehead and to the ground. L blinked and flicked his eyes to look down on it. With his concussed double vision, he could see the sugar puff was bloody.

Misa leaned closer to his ear, as if sharing a secret. "Now you know what it feels like to be someone's captive. Misa can sympathize; Misa was tied up in a horrible, horrible chair for weeks, just like you are now!" Her eyes had become intelligent and venomous, and L realized he was getting a rare glimpse of the real second Kira. "Not too fun, is it? When you're a captive, they can do anything they want to you, and no matter how much you scream…they won't stop."

L didn't let himself show any reaction to her dialogue, disturbing as it was. "So then Misa has the second Death Note."

She blinked at the topic change, before turning away in a huff. "What makes you think that?"

"Because Kira keeps you around, for one."

"What?" Cute once again, she twirled around and glared. "Light loves me! I just use the book to help him!"

"Misa!" Light turned around in his chair, and Misa quailed at the realization she might have said something wrong.

"Oh, no...did I..."

"No...just watch your mouth." Light was stern, like a parent scolding a silly child. "L already knew there was another Death Note. I'll give you credit for that, Ryuzaki."

"Thank you." L turned his piercing black eyes back to Misa. "But there is something else. You can see names and Rai- I mean, Kira," he spat the words out as a mockery, "can't. That's strange."

Out of the corner of his eye, L saw Light's shoulders tense. Was this a sensitive topic? "Tell me, Misa Amane, are the eyes some sort of upgrade? Did your Shinigami give you that power?" Misa had frozen and was standing still. L, still hunched over his knees and the mass of pain that was his abdomen, looked to the empty space where he'd seen Misa cast her glance earlier. "Hey you, Shinigami! What did she do to get the eyes?"

Misa twirled around to glare at the same empty space. "Don't tell him, Ryuk! It's none of his business!"

* * *

Light could scarcely believe her stupidity. "He can't see Ryuk, Misa."

"What do you mean he can't...oh. Oops!" Misa smiled sheepishly at her lover. "Stupid point for Misa!" She thought for a moment. "Light-kun, can I show him Ryuk?"

"Yes, that's fine." Light's mind was moving quickly as he began writing the final draft onto the actual Death Note. Should he have kept the second note quiet? L had already assumed its existence, but the other investigators still had doubts. No. It was all right. If Watari or the investigators watched an existing tape, they would already know he was Kira. In that case, he didn't really care if Misa was found out as well.

Unless he could have kept her Death Note secret as a backup…there were too many unknowns, and he realized it scared him. He'd never felt so out of control before, not since L had humiliated him on live television. He forced the panic down. _Attend to the task at hand_. Focusing his mind, he once again returned to writing.

Behind him, Misa reached into her gothically accessorized bag and pulled out her Death Note, before leaning over and whapping Ryuzaki on the face with it. Ryuzaki winced, and then widened his eyes as the second Shinigami appeared beside Light...bug-eyed, gothic, and creepily clownish. The monster seemed to recognize that L could see him, and nodded in greeting. L nodded back.

"Light," L's eyes lit up with sudden curiosity, and the pain seemed to leave them, even though he remained tense and hunched over his injured stomach. "I assume that rule in the Note is fake, is it not? I bet you asked the Shinigami to put it in." L's head turned sideways like a curious bird. "Rem? Telling me now won't do any harm. I'll ask the same question; did Light have you put that rule in?"

"Don't answer him," Misa snapped at Rem, before glaring at L. "Don't ask more questions or we'll kill you!" Misa's voice was high and shrill, and she stamped her foot. Behind her, Light stopped writing and turned around in his chair.

L didn't let himself be cowed by the warning look Light sent him, but looked back with equal intensity. "That rule was all that kept me from incriminating you, Light." He slid his eyes back to Rem. "Tell me the truth, Rem...was it fake? That if the owner of the Death Note doesn't use the book for 13 days, they die."

Rem paused hesitantly, and glanced at Light for directions. Light ignored her as he kept writing and shrugged. "Yes, it was fake. I told Rem to put it in."

"Manipulating a Shinigami? Rem, you let a human tell you what to do?" Rem straightened visibly, and in the background Ryuk made a surprised noise and jerked his body sideways. Light tensed as well, but kept himself quiet. He could already see what L was trying to do, but he wasn't about to reward him with a reaction.

"What does he use as leverage, Shinigami? Did he threaten you?"

Ryuk started laughing, but Rem began slowly walking towards L, her eyes radiating anger. Light felt a flash of irritation at the Shinigami…by reacting, the idiot was validating L's new strategy.

"Even now, you're letting him boss you around? Rem!" L seemed to have completely forgotten his pain, and his voice was as strong as always. "Light threw you away when I put him into custody, didn't he? He told you to go find a third Kira, so he could find the Death Note again afterwards! He tossed you away, like you were a _tool._" L's eyes had widened in strange earnestness.

"Why would you go so low, Shinigami? You don't have to listen to him, so why do you? Is a noble creature like yourself scared of him? That's really the only logical explanation. You must be more of a coward than I thought, to be scared of a human-"

"It was for Misa!" Rem interrupted with a snarl, pushed beyond her control. "You think I was scared of him? Never."

"For Misa?" L asked, returning Rem's gaze without a hint of fear. "What do you mean by that? I would hate to think of you as a coward, but unless you explain yourself further, that's still the only explanation-"

Light spun around in his chair and glared. "Shut up, L."

All the others expected a comeback, and Rem blinked and looked closer when L actually seemed to take Light's order...and then it became apparent that something was actually wrong. His eyes had bulged out a bit and lost their focus, and in a small convulsion he pulled his knees even closer to his chest. Light closed the Death Note and calmly joined Misa and Ryuk and Rem to watch the show.

L's eyes, when he looked up at his torturer, told that he fully comprehended what was happening...he was about to die.

Light crouched in front of L with a smile. "Listen carefully, L Lawliet. Would you like to know what I wrote in the Death Note? I'll tell you if you stop your pathetic attempts to turn the Shinigami against me. Here goes; L Lawliet begins suffering severe pain at 4:17 am, today." L convulsed more intensely and they could hear the handcuffs strain against the chair as his muscles tensed. "This pain will steadily increase until he tells the person who restrained him _what they want to know_. Then the pain will end, and severe nerve damage will trigger a deadly relapse at a time I'm not disclosing. So. You know what I want to know, L. Start talking."

"Clever," L responded, "but not a checkmate yet." Misa squeaked and grabbed Light's arm when the man convulsed and let out a choked scream. Light watched dispassionately as the chair fell sideways and L thrashed underneath. He let him agonize for a few more moments, before grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "Tell me what I want to know, L. You can't analyze your way out of this one. Did you set a trap if we try and leave the building? Or were you bluffing?"

L stared at him with the blankness that comes with overwhelming pain. "Come on, you anti-social freak, just tell me, and we'll both be better off." Light knew he had to hurry, that he had to uncover the trap that L might have laid for him. He wanted out of this building, out of the lair of L, and get to a place where he could truly be in control...this place made him nervous. His legs thrashing, L seemed in death throes.

Light felt another rage coming on, despite his effort to stay calm in front of Misa. "TELL ME, godamnit, just do what I say! Hurry up with it-"

Four pairs of eyes all turned to stare at the cell phone on the table, which had begun buzzing. None of them moved as it rang once, twice, three times. Finally, Light dropped L back to the floor and sprinted to the phone, checking the number. On the fourth ring, he clicked the button and held it up to his ear. "Mr. Watari? This is Light. No, L's fine. No, he's sleeping right now, he told me to answer the cell phone if he wasn't awake. Can I take a message." Light glanced over at the phone owner, who was choking down sobs of pain on the floor. "Alright, I'll tell him. Thank you. Bye."

He hung up the phone. Misa looked worried. "Mr. Watari knows now, right? Kill him! Write his name in the Death Note!"

"No, then they'll all know something is wrong, and plus, killing him might set off some kind of trap. Shit shit shit...Misa, get the car downstairs ready to go, we're getting out of here fast. We'll have to risk it."

"Yes, Kira!" Misa ran hurriedly off, Ryuk following.

Light hurried to L, who was frozen in a position of agony and biting his lip so hard it was bleeding. Light took off the handcuffs and dragged L away from the chair, refastening them again at his back. "You're coming with us."

Five minutes later, Light had successfully gotten L into the back seat of one of the spare cars. Misa was in the passenger seat, and Light opened the garage and drove calmly onto the empty four-lane road.

"Light, he's crying..." Misa looked somewhat horrified at what was happening in the back seat.

"Don't get emotional," he snapped. He took a sharp left onto a larger road, and forced himself not to speed. The last thing he needed was to draw the attention of the traffic police.

* * *

Matsuda was having a rather pleasant dream when the untimely ringing of a cell phone broke him out of it. He cracked open his eyes, and could see the shadow of Chief Soichiro fumbling for the lamp switch. On it came, and the Chief, dressed in shorts and an undershirt and grumbling like a bear, began fishing through his clothes for the phone.

They were in a top-class hotel near the US Embassy, with Mogi and Soichiro in the two beds, and Matsuda, as the youngest, sleeping on the floor.

Yagami answered the call while rubbing sleep out of his eyes. "Hello? Watari? Yes, go ahead."

Matsuda couldn't make out what was being said on the other line.

"I thought Light was there with him. Well, maybe if you allowed others to have cell-phones in headquarters, this wouldn't be a problem." Soichiro just listened for awhile, looking extremely sleepy and unhappy. "Yes, I understand. Fine. Fine. Yes, it's not a problem. Goodbye."

"Chief, is there something wrong?" Matsuda asked when Soichiro closed his phone.

"Yes. Watari says that L didn't answer his cell-phone."

From the other bed, Mogi groaned in disbelief. "He called you at 4:30 in the morning because Ryuzaki isn't answering his cell-phone? Didn't he think that he might be sleeping?"

Matsuda nodded in agreement. "He does have to sleep sometime. I mean, just because we never see it…"

The Chief stood up and grabbed his pants. "I know, I know. But Watari is two hours away, and so he can't check on L himself."

Matsuda tried to hold back a groan, and flopped back on the floor. The old man was over-reacting, and now they were stuck babysitting a grown adult-

But Soichiro was already fully awake and shoveling files into a briefcase. "Mogi, call Aizawa. I want him to meet us there."

Matsuda frowned as he tried to find his pants. "Chief, do we really need to call him? He's with his family tonight, and we're probably just going to find Ryuzaki asleep on the couch-"

Soichiro checked his watch. "Yes, we need him. I too thought Watari was being overprotective. But don't tell me you forgot about the possibility of Kira finding Ryuzaki's name."

The image of a sleeping Ryuzaki changed to an image of a dead Ryuzaki, and Matsuda's sense of urgency increased tenfold. Pants secure, he started pulling his socks on. But still…"if Kira killed L, wouldn't Light call us? Oh, unless Light is asleep…"

Mogi grunted. "That, or something may have happened to Light as well."

Mogi was already fully dressed, and dialing Aizawa's number. "Aizawa? I'm sorry to wake you, but we need you to meet us at headquarters. L isn't answering his phone, and we have no way of getting hold of Light. I know. I thought the same thing. Alright, try and hurry. Bye."

Matsuda was hopping around trying to get his shoe on. "What do you mean, 'you thought the same thing?' About Light being in trouble too?"

Mogi hesitated. "Well…not exactly. We all know that Light was-"

"Mogi, if you're about to say my son is responsible, I suggest you keep that to yourself." The Chief disappeared out the door, and Mogi stood as if slapped.

He glowered, and angrily picked up his briefcase. "Come on, Matsuda. Either Ryuzaki is dead or sleeping…and damn, I'm hoping it's the latter."

"Do you really still think Light could be Kira? I mean, the rule in the Death Note makes it impossible."

Mogi shrugged as they walked after Chief Yagami. "L suspects him, and there is evidence. But it does seem unlikely; that kid is too nice. But Matsuda, you have to learn that sometimes people aren't what they seem."


	2. The Road

**DEATH NOTE: UNSPOKEN RULES**

**Part 2: The Road**

* * *

"Tell me what I want to know, L. If you do it the pain will stop." Light split his attention between the road and glancing in the rear-view mirror to the back seat. It was dark outside, but the cab light was still on and he could see L clearly. "Do the other L's have a trace on this car? L!"

Ryuzaki was writhing in pain and making those agonized sounds Light had become accustomed to by watching heart attacks on television. But this wasn't a heart attack. If the Note had done the right thing, it was much more painful. Light tried to look back at the road, but had to swat at Ryuk's head, which was suspended upside-down directly in his view. The grotesque visage laughed and disappeared.

"Come on, Ryuzaki, make it easier on yourself." Light glanced in the rear view mirror again. "You'll even stay alive afterwards; I gave you a few days until you die. Think…do you really want to spend your last days alive like this? Be intelligent!"

A half sob, half scream came from the back seat just as Light cursed and swerved to avoid a merging truck. Shit...so much for driving carefully. He had lost focus on the road.

"K-Kira!"

"Yes? What is it, L? Just tell me!" Light realized he was almost yelling, and his knuckles were white on the steering wheel. Misa sat rigid next to him, thankfully staying quiet and out of the way.

"You...want to hear it?" L managed to control the pain enough to freeze his body in one contortion, his teeth gritted solidly between words. "You...have...defeated me. You are...a God!"

_What the hell-_ Light was surprised at the comment, but he couldn't keep a slow, viciously content smile from warming his face. L had finally recognized it. The best detective in the world, trussed like an animal, beaten and completely subservient, finally recognized that he was only hindering utopia...his Justice was so complete that even his mortal enemy couldn't help becoming a disciple. And soon L would betray the other heretics to help Light create that world. "L, I'm glad you see the truth now. Now tell me what I want to kn-"

Realization struck Light like a hammer. _What I wanted to hear. _Ignoring the road, he jerked his head around in a panic to look at the back seat. L was no longer writhing in pain, but was lying on his back with his knees propped sideways against the seatback. He was drenched in sweat and his thin torso was sucking in breath, but he was not in pain. In a movement of complete exhaustion, L looked straight into Light's disbelieving face...and a smile of triumph crossed his features.

He slid into unconsciousness a heartbeat later, but Misa couldn't do anything but sit frozen in fear at the ten minutes of enraged swearing that followed.

* * *

Yagami's car, with Matsuda in the front seat, pulled into the garage in front of Mogi, and he followed. The first thing Mogi noticed as he parked was that the spare Suzuki was missing. That was strange. He climbed out of his car and slammed the door behind him.

Chief Yagami waved him over. "Mogi! What do you make of this?"

"I don't know." Mogi shook his head as he surveyed the parking lot. "Either Light or L took the car? But why would they-"

"Look, blood!" Matsuda was anxiously waving them over to look at his discovery, and their stomachs dropping further as they ran up to him. They crouched next to a trail of dark drops.

"My God..." Soichiro eye's widened. "The trail goes straight to where the Suzuki was." His voice deepened with authority. "Us, upstairs, now."

They all stood and ran to the entrance, where Yagami quickly gained access for them with his handprint. Mogi immediately opened the safety box where they stored electronic devices. "Look, Light's phone isn't here."

The Chief's expression become even darker. "Matsuda."

"Yes Chief!" Matsuda stood immediately at attention.

"Go to the cars and get our guns and holsters."

"Yes Chief!" Matsuda squeezed around Mogi and back into the garage, and Mogi turned an incredulous look on Yagami.

"But Chief, only the seven of us have access to the building-"

"Simply because I have no idea what's going on, I'm not taking any chances." The Chief was determined, and so Mogi bobbed his head and backed down. Soichiro took out his cell phone, and Mogi realized that he was going to call Light.

"Wait, Chief, don't!"

Yagami graced him with an imperious look. "What?"

"Chief, you yourself said we have no idea what's going on...if we call Light, we might make something worse."

The Chief froze, obviously torn, before nodding and putting his phone away. "You're right. I'll wait until we see what's inside."

Matsuda reappeared, and after handing out their guns and holsters, they entered the elevator. As they stood silent and the floor numbers blinked by, they couldn't help noticing the smear of blood on the elevator floor.

Yagami took out his gun as the elevator slowed. "Don't shoot carelessly, we don't want to hurt Ryuzaki. And my son might be in there."

The door swooshed open, and they entered the dark hall nervously. Soichiro led the way and Mogi and Matsuda followed. The trail of blood continued all the way to the main room, and they burst in with guns at the ready. Mogi stood with every muscle tensed, but in the dim light, nothing moved. Five seconds, ten seconds - "Boss, I think it's empty."

Yagami lowered his gun and turned on the main light. The room burst into view, and with it, a scene of disaster. Chairs were overturned, equipment was smashed, documents were strewn all over the floor. Matsuda was the first to snap out of his shock, and ran to the table and began rummaging through the mess. "The Death Note...the Death Note's gone!"

"What?" Soichiro strode over to stare in disbelief. "Damn. DAMN."

Mogi noticed something else. "There's blood all over here, Chief. But who's?"

Matsuda looked around with wide eyes. "Only Ryuzaki and Light were here, and no-one else could have gotten access to the building-"

"We don't know that for sure. Both of you, start looking for surveillance equipment that isn't destroyed." Yagami's phone rang. "Aizawa? Yes, come on up. No, you don't need to be armed. No, don't drop your cell phone in the drop box, just come up. L and Light are missing."

As Mogi attended to a camera, he could tell his boss was almost shaking with emotion. They all knew there were two main options: L had attacked Light, or Light had attacked L. Both had devastating connotations.

Yagami dialed his cell phone again. "Watari? Bad news." That moment, Aizawa had entered the room in a skid, and his eyes widened as he saw the scene of destruction. He turned to Yagami with a question on his lips, but the Chief shushed him.

"Watari? L and Light aren't here. No, listen to me. The Death Note is gone as well. Whoever took it used the spare Suzuki." Aizawa was listening carefully to the conversation. "No, it looks like all the surveillance equipment is destroyed. Watari? There's blood."

Yagami listened for a while, before a frown darkened his face. "The full story?" He listened for a while longer, both Mogi and Aizawa now waiting nearby.

"Light?" Yagami's face suddenly looked stricken, then angry. "And you didn't tell me this before? Why you…fine. Yes, we'll keep you updated. I'll see you as soon as you can get here."

Yagami angrily hung up, and leaned on his arms on the table.

"Chief, what did he say?" Aizawa asked.

"Watari lied to me. He said Ryuzaki didn't pick up his phone, but now he's saying that Light answered. Light told him that Ryuzaki was sleeping."

Aizawa frowned, and Mogi's mind started racing...had he and Aizawa's suspicions been right all along? But what this meant for the Chief, and the Chief's son...and Watari obviously hadn't told the truth because the Chief might have believed his son, and not bothered to check up on the situation.

But there was one quality to the Chief that made him unique, and made him such a powerful figure. When there was a clear right path to take, no matter how much it hurt him personally, he would take the plunge. Mogi could see that Chief's hands shake as he gripped the edge of the table. "Call headquarters, tell them to try and trace L's and Light's cell phone signals."

"Yes, boss!" Aizawa hurried to one of the computers that hadn't been turned off.

As Aizawa started punching away at the keyboard, he seemed deep in thought. "Do you think…Mogi! Do you think it's possible that L kidnapped Light to interrogate him? He still suspected him, but he couldn't find any evidence, so a confession-"

"Impossible," Yagami growled, looking both incredulous and unconvinced. Mogi, however, mulled the idea over, trying to see if it fit any of his preconceptions of Ryuzaki. It did seem possible…and while both he and Aizawa secretly harbored suspicions of Light, it was much easier to attribute such extreme measures to L than to the cheerful and earnest son of Soichiro.

Matsuda gawked at Aizawa from where he was rifling through debris on the ground. "Ryuzaki kidnapping somebody? I mean, sure, he had us kidnap Misa, but do you really think he would _attack_ Light? And anyways, why wouldn't he just wait for us to test the Death Note?"

"Maybe he wanted to use the Death Note to test it himself," Aizawa responded.

Matsuda looked perplexed. "It just seems out of character. But he did say he was willing to use torture."

"Use your heads," Yagami scolded. "Why would L do something and not tell Watari? And we won't know what happened until we find a recording, anyways. Mogi, find a goddamn tape in this mess. Use my cell phone, call Watari, have him walk you through where the different surveillance cameras are. And ask if there's a trace on the Suzuki." Mogi bobbed his head and accepted Yagami's cell phone, quickly finding the redial button.

Suddenly Aizawa whipped around. "Chief, someone left a message on the computer!"

The other three investigators appeared at his side almost immediately. Aizawa read the text message aloud. "If you try and follow, you, many others, and both captives will die."

Matsuda looked surprised. "Both captives? Does that mean a third party broke in?"

Yagami shook his head. "Unlikely, but possible. This message is just to scare us. But one thing is for sure, we aren't announcing anything to the public unless we have to."

* * *

Sometime later, the car pulled up to a late-night restaurant, and Light picked out a solitary man returning to his car. He used Misa to get the man's name, and in just five minutes they were exchanging vehicles next to a small, tree filled park. Getting Ryuzaki's limp body propped in the backseat was the only challenge, and the man, as he had specified, asked no questions and drove off with his new machine. The man would drive with no memories of recent events, and would end all his memories by committing suicide within three hours.

The following drive was almost peaceful, as they hummed down roads in darkness and silence. They had left the false daylight of downtown Tokyo behind them, and the dark blotches of trees and greenery had started to compete with the lights of civilization.

Light took the time to repair his bruised ego. True, he had lost a point to L, but he couldn't take it too much to heart. That particular use of the Death Note, and the wording "tell someone what they want to know", was something he had never been able to test before; it would have required direct contact with a victim, something he hadn't been stupid enough to allow. _Until now. _He quickly shoved that thought out of his mind; right now he needed positivism.

He would just have to fall on other, more ancient methods of interrogation. Admittedly this was also new ground for him, but he had confidence. He'd seen lots of movies, and he was well immersed in methods he'd read about by hacking into Police Agency files.

He smiled slightly. The interrogation was actually something he was looking forward to…L deserved something along those lines. He remembered how he'd tied Misa up like a bondage doll, how he had left both of them to rot in solitude for weeks, all while watching their every move. That had been true torture. Light felt nothing if not justified in his future actions.

"Light?" Misa tentatively spoke into the silence.

"Yes, Misa?" Taking confidence in his calm answer, she plowed on.

"Light, where are we going? Did L find a way to catch us? We're running away from your father, right?"

"Yes. It's not safe anymore."

"But you're going to be ok, right? And I can stay with you?"

"Yes, I'm going to be alright. You won't be able to do any modeling anymore, just so you know. Are you ok dropping your movie shoot?"

Misa smiled confidently. "Yep! Being a celebrity isn't nearly as interesting as being with Light." She paused, and after glancing in the back seat, spoke in a whisper. "Um, why are we taking Ryuzaki with us?"

"I just need to extract some information before I kill him. I…think there might be others like him, who are chasing us."

"Others like Ryuzaki?" Misa's eyes widened at the implication, before she wrinkled her nose. "That's scary. He's such a weirdo. But I know Light can catch them, just like he caught Ryuzaki!"

Light sent her a falsely shy smile as thanks for her confidence, and she beamed. "Being in hiding with Light will be fun! Oh, Light, it's just like that American movie I saw, the one with those two handsome people and all the blood! Maybe I should dye my hair again, for a disguise. Would Light like a bright color?" She pulled a lock of her hair forward to look at it. "Or maybe just black with streaks. I've been thinking red for some time, but black really is the least obvious, so maybe I should do that and just cut it shorter-"

"Misa, can you stay quiet for awhile? I need to think."

"Oh, sorry! Yes, I'll be quiet."

* * *

_My son. My own son is Kira._

Yagami was staring slack-jawed as the salvaged tape played out. There was Light, picking up the Death Note, there was Light, stabbing Ryuzaki with a pen, there was Light, kicking L into oblivion on the floor.

After so many horrible months, the case was solved. The mystery was over.

But the cost of knowing the truth…

"Chief?" Aizawa's worried face appeared in the corner of his eye, but he didn't respond. Mogi was shaking his head in a sort of stunned fury, and Matsuda's level of distress was so high he looked near tears. As much as Yagami wanted to look away, he couldn't, none of them could. There was a sick fascination in seeing one of their closest comrades turn into a monster before their very eyes.

"He's searching him," Mogi observed, as Light began going over the prone figure of Ryuzaki. "Look, he has his cell-phone."

Aizawa nodded, broken slightly out of his shock by seeing Light act in a logical way. _A logical way for Kira. Are we already of that mindset?_ "That must be how he answered L's phone when Watari called."

Suddenly Light was flying backwards, and all of the investigators made a noise of surprise. Matsuda pointed a triumphant finger. "Ryuzaki's fighting back! Look!"

"Oh shit, I don't want to watch-" Aizawa was right to worry, because Light came back with a brutal vengeance.

Matsuda closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "It doesn't make sense. I mean," his eyes opened and shone in vehemence, "even Kira wouldn't be so violent, would he? Ryuzaki said Kira liked killing from a distance, but this…maybe Kira is controlling Light with another Death Note!"

"Forget it, Matsuda," Aizawa answered, his arms crossed as he grimly watched the screen. "Light is Kira." Yagami's throat hitched, but Aizawa turned to look him straight in the eye. It would have been disrespectful but for the righteous anger in that look. "Chief, Light has betrayed us. He betrayed _you_. That's not your son."

Mogi nodded, his eyes also full of the fury of betrayal. "Chief, Aizawa's right. The Light we know and like is gone. This is a different person."

Matsuda couldn't look away from the screen. "All this time…Ryuzaki was right the entire time! And I didn't always believe him. And now look what happened to him, we left him alone-"

Yagami felt his strength return, as he mastered the turmoil of emotions that were distracting him from saving lives. He had to operate separate from his emotions. "We didn't believe him because we didn't have evidence. Now we do." He looked at Ryuzaki now slumped handcuffed to a chair. That young man had honored him by trusting his son, only to have that trust betrayed in the most extreme way imaginable. Now it was Yagami's turn to repay him, no matter the cost to his pride or his family. "You realize we may not survive this.

Mogi nodded grimly. "Chief, even if we did nothing, we'd still be at Kira's mercy. There's no reason not to pursue him with everything we have."

* * *

Light pulled up to the curb in a seedy area of the urban sprawl surrounding Tokyo, just a block from a bunch of well-lit nightclubs. He let the car idle and peered out onto the broad sidewalk. Neon lights illuminated the trash and humans littering the concrete.

"Misa, what's the name of that biker over there...you see the one with the spikes on his wrists?"

"Ew, you want Misa to give you the name of that one? Ok, um...Ken'ichi Matsuyama."

"Thank you Misa." Light took the Death Note out of the bag and began writing. In the back seat, he could hear L's quiet and exhausted breathing. "Alright, Misa, listen carefully. When he walks by, I want you to roll down the window and flirt with him."

"Ew, Light!"

"Offer to let him in the back seat. That's all you need to do, and then you can ignore him."

"Oh...that's ok, I guess."

Sure enough, just as Light had planned, the biker trailed off from his leather-clad buddies and walked up to the passenger window with a sneer. "Hey buddy, aren't you a little lost?" He pounded on the glass with a meaty hand, and Light began lowering the window. "Why don't I just send you in the right direction - well hello, sweetheart! Aren't you a hottie!"

Trying to contain her disgust, Misa peered at him with sarcastic cuteness. That ended up being all the flirting she had to do.

"Mind if I come along with you tonight, hot-stuffs?"

"Uh, get in the back seat."

"Sure thing, baby." Light watched as the leering man pulled open the back door. His buddies by the club waved and catcalled, and Matsuyama waved back in triumph. Light heard the door slam shut and immediately wrinkled his nose; damn, he _would_ pick the smelliest piece of trash on the street. The man reeked of cigarettes, grease, and a complete lack of hygiene...among other unsavory things. But to business...Light put the car into drive and rolled back into the stream of traffic.

He could partially keep an eye on the back via the rear view window. It was dark, but streams of light from street lamps and city life would occasionally illuminate his two passengers.

Matsuyama had apparently discovered Ryuzaki. "Well, whatta we got here, some kind of passed out pretty boy?"

Misa turned surprised and wide eyes to Light.

"Hey, hope you guys don't mind if I help myself." The man let out a disgusting laugh, his released breath making the car smell worse again. There was rustling and the sound of movement in the back, but Light found he didn't particularly care what happened to his passengers, so long as they didn't kill each other. Misa seemed more bothered, but she was staying quiet and just casting sidelong glances at him.

"Shit, this kid is really gone...is he a meth-head or something? Wait, what the hell? Did he get in a fight? Why's he wearing handcuffs?" Light couldn't help being distracted when the man's big ugly head appeared next to him, leering. "Got some kind of kinky thing going on? Eh? Eh?"

Light didn't bother keeping the disgust off his face; the man smelled horrible. "Stay in the back seat and stay quiet."

The man seemed to shrug and disappeared back into the darkness. It stayed quiet except for some strange chuckles and rustling noises, and Light was able to return to the task at hand. He had to get to a road where they could transfer cars without L's body drawing suspicion. If L was fully conscious, then they might be able to make the transition more easily. He planned on using the biker and another party to throw any pursuers completely off his trail. Making a sudden decision, he turned off the main road and began heading more deeply into the suburbs.

"Don't touch me." Ryuzaki's quiet voice, strained, reached Light's ears over the thrum of the road. So L was awake. Good. The transfer would be easy then. But L's consciousness reminded Light how he'd found the flaw in his first interrogation method, and he clenched his jaw. His next method would be much harder to outsmart.

Misa had twisted in her chair to watch the back seat, and Light was suddenly curious enough to glance in the rear view mirror; he could barely make out a struggle in the darkness. The biker seemed to be trying to force L into some other position, and Ryuzaki was impeding the man as much as he could with his legs and feet.

"Quit struggling, bitch, ow, get your foot out of my face-" there was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, and the biker gave a little cackle of triumph.

Suddenly the import of what was happening in the back seat struck Light, and as the sounds of struggle continued, he felt his heart rate spike, and a thrill run through his body. L was being… Kira's worldly rival was about to be humiliated in the most base way possible. Before him, the best detective in the world was utterly powerless.

He was about to be raped.

"Light..." Misa was watching the dark struggle behind them with panic, and turned to him with pleading eyes.

He tried to ignore her, just stared ahead and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. With every grunt the biker, his pawn, was making, he felt something primal…where was L's investigative team and private army now?

The biker was winning the struggle with a thread of crude insults, and he heard a muffled sound of pain underneath. The biker must have grabbed the stab wound.

"Light!" Misa's desperate voice cut through his trance, and he looked in the mirror to see the biker's dark leather back, L's thin body struggling underneath. L was about to become the victim of a crime, and only Kira, the Justice he had tried to destroy, would be able to protect him. The situation was beautiful.

_Ask me to make him stop. Beg me._ If L didn't ask, he faced unspeakable humiliation. But for L to ask Kira, of all people, to protect him from a crime would be the ultimate concession.

"Hey L!" He called back, on sudden inspiration. The biker paused fumbling with the gasping Ryuzaki's clothes, one of his large hands clutching L's hair. "Do you want to ask me something?"

Misa's jaw dropped, and her voice went up an octave again. "Light, what? You aren't going to let- _no!_"

"Shut up, Misa." Light almost growled with sudden irritation at her. Was she judging him?

"I-"

"Misa, just shut up." She was going to judge him. He couldn't stand that. Ryuzaki deserved to be humiliated like this, to be treated like nothing, with what he had done to them. Hadn't L had humiliated _her_ in an equal fashion? His whole team had watched her shit and piss and cry like she was some insect on display. They had molested her with their eyes. Stupid fool. She had already forgotten.

"Bony little fucker, aren't you?" He could hear the biker's low chuckle waft to the front, as if a part of his breath. "Finally quieted down…not that I mind when they struggle, makes you realize you can't escape, right?" The biker continued muttering nonstop, and even though it was dark, in his mind's eye Light could see L's terrified expression, the sheltered young man's terror at being touched…he wondered how long L would let it go before he started begging-

There was sudden movement as the biker decided to flip Ryuzaki onto his stomach, and though Ryuzaki still tried to struggle the biker was crushing him with his weight on top, and started pulling at his jeans...

"_Stop it!"_ Misa had spun around to the back, and the biker froze. The older man and the girl stared frozen at each other, and after time stretched out, the biker grumbled unhappily and began pulling his weight off Ryuzaki. It looked like Ryuzaki's clothes were crumpled but still on, and Ryuzaki weakly struggled out from underneath. The biker sat back muttering in disappointment.

Light sat stunned. Misa had just disobeyed him. He said nothing, and Misa whipped back into her seat, her head down and shoulders hunched, obviously aware that she had disobeyed her god. "Sorry," she whispered, not daring to look to at him.

In the back, and the new silence, Ryuzaki and his bare feet and bloodstained white shirt disappeared from the mirror's view, probably to pull his knees to his chest as far from his assailant as he could.

Light still said nothing, and a new feeling replaced the physical power rush that had been consuming him. It was anger…and deep underneath, the sneaking realization that maybe his motivation to allow the crime had stemmed from something besides justice.

* * *

Over sixty miles away, Chief Yagami sped down the highway while the cars of the other investigators and four more black, nondescript cars of Ide's men kept pace.

They had streamed the tape to Watari's computer as he drove en-route to headquarters, and during that process, the old man had made a decision. While they pursued Misa and Light via their cell-phone signals, Watari would arrive at headquarters, pick up the private helicopter, and catch up with them by air.

The chase had begun.

* * *

Light drove into a dark parking lot, a small, poor looking one that wasn't likely to have well-monitored cameras. He put the car into park. The previous owner had left a little 'Akira' action-figure of Tetsuo hanging from the mirror, and it bounced in response.

"Misa, wait until you see someone returning to their car, then tell me their name." Enough time had passed for Misa to decide that Light had forgiven her, and so she nodded earnestly, before craning her neck to survey the parking lot as they sat in the darkness.

Twice she pointed out people that Light didn't find suitable; one looked too well dressed and was liable to be missed, and the other was accompanied by a friend. Finally, she found what he was looking for. "There! That man over there, with the ugly shirt. He looks drunk, and he's getting into a car. His name is...Tatsuya Fujiwara."

Light quickly wrote down name and directions in the Death Note. He was getting good at writing specific and detailed directions. Practice made perfect.

He lifted the pen from the paper, and they waited. Just when Fujiwara was about to unlock his car, the drunk and rumpled looking man jerked around and began walking towards them. Light opened his door and looked at Misa. "Take his keys. We're using his car from now on. Matsuyama, take my place in the driver's seat."

All doors opened except for the one by Ryuzaki, and the two grown men said nothing as the walked to their places. The biker took the proffered keys from Light and sat behind the wheel, and Fujiwara brushed by Misa to settle in her recently vacated passenger's seat.

"Misa, go get his car and park it next to this one. You can drive, right?"

"I'm learning! I can park!" Misa eagerly took Fujiwara's keys and started running towards the cheap car…before skidding to a walk after remembering not to draw attention to herself. Light rolled his eyes at her behavior.

He suddenly realized he was bracing himself for what he had to do next. _Ridiculous._ He shook his head to snap out of it, and yanked open Ryuzaki's door before he could hesitate.

L was propped upwards with one of his knees pulled to his chest, and his head lolling on the cushioned back of the seat. When the door opened, the head turned loosely sideways to give Light a vacant stare. Even in the dark, Light could see the bruise starting to form on his cheek, and the splotches of blood staining the white cotton shirt.

"Come on," Light muttered, reaching into the car and grabbing Ryuzaki under his arms, still handcuffed behind his back. The man didn't make a noise as Light did his best to pull him out of the car and hoist him to his feet. Hhe managed to slam the door shut with one hand and let L lean against the side of the car, his shaggy hair covering most of his face.

They both stood there in silence as he waited for Misa to drive the car up, Light propping L up by holding onto his uninjured left arm. The silence started to make Light uncomfortable, and he glanced down at the mop of hair. "Nothing to say, Ryuzaki? Usually you're full of clever comments."

When Ryuzaki remained silent, Light felt another jolt of white rage run through him. Was L taunting him? But that would have been illogical, as Light clearly had the upper hand, so was Ryuzaki still plotting something?

Misa finally pulled the car next to them, parking very sloppily and letting the car jerk and stall as she did. Light just pulled open the back door and roughly shoved Ryuzaki into the back seat. The harshness was unnecessary, but it felt good.

"Light, here's the keys!" Misa hurried around the car to dangle them in front of his face, and he snatched them up.

"Get in the car." He rapped on the driver's side window of the car they had just vacated. Matsuyama, sitting in the front seat, rolled down the window to stare at him.

"Here." Light reached into the newsboy bag at his waist and fished out three cell-phones. "Take these with you. They have protective passwords, so don't bother using them. How's your memory?"

The biker looked confused, and the other man, sitting in the passenger seat, leaned forward and stared at him. "Who the hell are you? Look, we're going on a car trip, so just fuck off!"

"Fine." Light smiled. "Have a good trip." The window rolled back up, and Light took a step back as the car began backing up. He watched as the car drove away and its headlights joined the procession of light on the road. He had to congratulate himself on his brilliance. Those cell phones would draw Watari and the investigators like bugs to a fire. The wild goose chase he had planned would give him plenty of time to reach a hiding spot.

* * *

As Light drove on in their new car, he couldn't help glancing in the rear view mirror. Ryuzaki was lying motionless on the back seat, sideways, his black hair covering any expression. But he was clearly conscious…what was he thinking? Light looked back to the road.

Ryuzaki had pulled a smart move at headquarters by hinting he still had one-up on Light. Light had been planning on kidnapping L and taking him to a safe place for interrogation, but he'd panicked after L's comment, and so tried to interrogate him before leaving, which had left behind more evidence than he had intended.

He wished Watari hadn't called. Had Ryuzaki managed to trigger an alarm to Watari with some button on his cell phone? It was possible; L loved little built in precautions like that. And Light was starting to realize that it was with good reason. They really did think alike.

Whatever the case, Watari _had_ called, and was no doubt suspicious that Light had answered L's phone. He would return to base to find the Death Note gone, blood on the table and floor, and two handcuffs missing. Light had been careful to steal another pair of handcuffs to give the impression that he had been kidnapped as well.

So there _was_ a slim chance that Watari and his father would think that they'd all been taken hostage by an unknown third party, but it was unlikely. They'd probably find out that he had been the attacker through some backup surveillance system he hadn't known about, or if they had time to do any real forensics. Or if the other Ls had been watching.

Other Ls. Damnit.

Were they one of Ryuzaki's tricks, similar to how Light himself had used a fake Death Note rule to throw L off his trail?

And if they existed, how much did they know? Did they already have proof that he was Kira? And though he was itching to kill the investigators and his father and Watari before they could reveal his identity to the public, for now keeping them alive was the best move. While they were in charge, they were likely to keep his identity secret, giving him more time to find the Ls and kill them. Then not a single person on earth would be able to reveal his name to the public. But how to find them? The only way to reach them was through Watari or Ryuzaki.

But if they did exist, there was a chance Ryuzaki didn't know their real names, as it made sense for them to operate as loosely connected cells for security. Even so, he could at least find a way to use Ryuzaki the way he had used Raye Pendar to kill all the FBI agents. _You get one, you get them all._

And if Ryuzaki admitted he was lying about the Ls, than Light could finally kill the investigators and his father, even arrange it so it looked like he'd also been a victim. But before he could take any action, he needed information about their existence, or lack thereof.

And the only way to know was through the young detective lying on the back seat of his car. A determined smile crept onto his face. _This is a whole new ballgame, Ryuzaki. Whatever I have to do to make you talk, threats on your loved ones, pain, lies...it's all in the rules. L, you may be smarter than most, but emotionally and physically, you're no god. You're human, and not a particularly prime specimen at that. Let the games begin._

* * *

**Ihasabukkit:** Thx for reading! And thanks especially for all the reviews when I first posted this chapter, they really were the life-blood that kept me going (as in on the story, not like as in real-life. Though kind of in real-life too).


	3. The Motel

**DEATH NOTE: UNSPOKEN RULES**

**Part 3: The Motel**

Disclaimer: I own Death Note and all affiliated materials.

* * *

Light had found an empty looking, run-down motel a few miles from the main highway. It didn't look well cared for, but at the same time it didn't look seedy enough to be under the watch of the local police. All the rooms opened to an open walkway, which gave him a view of the parking lot one floor below.

Night was quickly giving way to morning, and as Light walked out of the bathroom toweling his hair dry, he felt some of the tension finally leaving his body. The motel was the perfect place for him to regroup, start interrogating Ryuzaki, and maybe even catch some sleep.

Misa yawned and stretched on one of the two beds, her plaid outfit clashing strongly with the ugly bedcover. "Finally, Misa can pee! You took a long shower, Light!" She smiled cutely and cocked her head, clearly hoping for some sort of response. When he completely ignored her, her features fell visibly.

But Light wasn't ignoring her so completely that he didn't see her surreptitiously take out her frustration on Ryuzaki, who was handcuffed to a chair in the middle of the room. Like a cruel sibling, she squeezed his injured arm as she passed. Ryuzaki hissed and curled in on himself, glaring balefully at her retreating back.

Light pretended he hadn't seen until she closed the bathroom door, then let himself smile in amusement. He finally felt confident and in control again, which was why he was surprised when Ryuzaki suddenly became smug. Light cocked an eyebrow as he discarded the towel. "What?"

"You made a mistake, Light. You already wrote my name in the Death Note."

Light stared hard at Ryuzaki to see what he was getting at, before deciding to play along. He returned the smirk confidently. "You think that was a mistake? Writing your name down just ensures Rem can't kill you. And once I don't need you anymore, I'll dump you in a ditch somewhere to die. "

Rem the Shinigami, standing in the corner of the room, jerked in surprise at this admission. "You didn't want me to kill L?"

"No. Not yet, anyways. I want L to die, but first I need to know some things."

"You want to know about the other Ls." Ryuzaki's pupils stared him down out of the expansive whites of his eyes. "That's why you kidnapped me." Light realized it was weird not seeing Ryuzaki's abused thumbnail in his mouth, or some more edible substitute. The lack was probably driving Ryuzaki to distraction, which merited some sadistic satisfaction.

"Yes. I want to know if the other Ls exist, and if they do, I want to know their names, faces, and everything they know about the case."

"You've given me a life span of at most 23 days. Are you so sure you can get the information you want from me in that time period?" L asked, a tinge of mockery in his voice. "You wouldn't just need information...you'd need cooperation. "

Rem was having trouble moving on from their last topic. "Wait. Light, why didn't you want me to kill Ryuzaki?"

Light rolled his eyes and gave a sigh of exasperation. "Because it would have hurt Misa. And since I couldn't warn you of the danger, I took the offensive and took things into my own hands."

Misa must have been listening from the bathroom, because the door opened and she glomped onto Light with soapy hands. "You were protecting Misa! Oh, Light-chan!"

Light didn't like how Rem's eyes bored disconcertingly into his own. "That's right. If Ryuzaki died, the other Ls would think that Misa-misa had remembered his name from when she met him at the University. They would have hunted you down almost immediately. Isn't this right, Ryuzaki?"

L's expression, albeit bloodied, was almost childlike in surprise. "So Misa _did _forget my name!" Understanding was spreading across his face. "You were going to use the Reaper to kill me indirectly, then! Very smooth, Light! But Rem, I still fail to understand your motivation. Tell me. Why do you do what Light tells you to?"

Rem was still staring steadily at Light, but she acquiesced to L's curiosity. "Because Light Yagami is a devil, and he holds the fate of Misa Amane in his hands. Only a devil would want a Shinigami dead, Light Yagami."

"Hey, don't call Light-chan that!" Misa graced the much taller Rem with a petulant look.

Light was suddenly feeling impatient again. "We're wasting time talking." He pried Misa off his arm and walked to stand threateningly over L. "Tell me what I want to know. I'll lay it out for you; my two methods to inspire cooperation are physical pain and/or killing people. We'll start with the pain, and you should be fully aware that if you don't respond to that, people come next."

L shrugged. "Light, I must admit I'm disappointed by your barbaric methods. I might have expected it from Kira, but for Light Yagami, Soichiro Yagami's son, it is beyond low. And your threats only go so far. I, too, am childish and selfish. I would allow human sacrifices to bring you to Justice." Bluff number one, but he lost nothing in trying. "So not only is threatening me with the death of civilians or powerful figures untenable, it would just hurt your reputation." L smiled. "And you can't even kill Watari."

L felt some of his strength return knowing that this, at least, was not a bluff._ Watari is coming for me and for you, and you don't know his name._

* * *

"He's dead!" Aizawa called out, peering into the smoldering wreck of a car. He hurriedly ran away from the dangerous mess, leaving it for the local police to deal with, and rejoined Ide and the others. He shook his head. "Piece of shrapnel right in his skull, and he's pinned down. Kira must have given him the cell phone as a decoy."

"Damn." Yagami turned to pace and his colleagues looked equally frustrated. "Not only have we lost our only lead, but it turns out Kira is on a killing spree." They had all stopped referring to Light, only Kira, in an effort to emotionally distance themselves. So far, it had worked well.

Just twenty minutes before, they had honed in on L's cell phone. It had been hard for Matsuda and Mogi to try and decipher who actually held the device in the thin suburban crowd, as the location wasn't exact, until a thin, drunk looking man had seem them and taken off sprinting. They'd followed, turned a corner, and blood and screams heralded that their quarry had leapt in front of a train. The cell phone signal had disappeared immediately.

Meanwhile, Ide and Yagami and Aizawa had been pursuing Misa's and Light's signals down a near empty road and closing in on the car by trial and error. Watari in his helicopter had managed to match the signal movements to the general movements of one car, and they had taken off in pursuit as well. It had ended with gore as well.

There was a rush of wind as the helicopter landed in an empty spot on the road some distance away, and Watari left his copilot, one of Ide's men, to come their way. He was dressed in combat gear.

He and Yagami met halfway. Watari motioned at the wreck. "Dead end?"

Yagami nodded dolefully. "Dead end. That takes out all three signals. We need to find a new lead."

Watari frowned. "We could release Kira's identity to the media, and start a manhunt."

Yagami shook his head. "No. That would cause panic." Watari stared at him with none of the usual twinkle, and Yagami turned sour. "And no, it's not because I'm ashamed the public will find out he's my son. My shame is nothing in the big picture, I know that. But the minute Kira finds out we released his identity, our lives our forfeit."

Watari looked grim. "That may be the only option."

"And if we're all dead, who will bring the evidence to actually incriminate him in court?" Yagami demanded. "L? Did he have a backup plan for this situation?"

"I don't think L ever foresaw himself being kidnapped by your son," Watari replied, his voice rigid. Yagami straightened as if he had been struck a physical blow.

"Listen, Yagami." Soichiro stared in shock at the old man's tone of voice. "Light dragged L out of that building in convulsions, so he may already be dead. But if that were the case, why would Kira want to take a dead body with him? No. L is alive, and I'm getting him out. And the longer we wait, the higher the chance that Kira will kill him. I say tell the public, start a manhunt, and close in on him."

"Watari, the public _supports_ Kira! How do we know that if his identity is released, the public won't protect him, even help him go into hiding? Then one, we'd be dead, and two, it could take the new investigation team months to find him, maybe longer. I say we wait for a new lead, and we continue pursuing him ourselves."

"And if we all fall over dead?"

"I'll have Aizawa create a press-release to be circulated if we die. Agreed?"

"Fine." Watari nodded with his usual politeness, but none of his usual kindliness. The old servant was gone, and Yagami found it replaced by the hard eyes of a warrior, and one with a vendetta. "I'll wait for a lead. Though Yagami, if I see an opportunity to help L, even if it doesn't fit in with your plans, I warn you I may take it. I haven't fought in a war for many years, but now I have one last mission, and I won't stop until it's complete. I want L safe."

Yagami nodded, and looked downward in rare deference. "Watari, I understand. We''ll do everything we can."

A hundred feet away, standing alone in the flickering light of the car wreck, was Matsuda. He expected to fall down dead any moment, and it was driving him insane…when an idea came to him. He pulled out his cell-phone and stared down at a certain number.

* * *

Light knew that L was right on that count. Watari's real name...he couldn't get it from Rem or Ryuk, and Misa had never seen the man. And even though there had been surveillance tapes of Watari in headquarters, he'd never had the chance to find an image with damned Ryuzaki and those creepy unblinking eyes watching his every move.

But on the other hand, if he had really searched or done research before he'd exposed himself to Ryuzaki, could he have found a picture for Misa? He felt a twinge of self-doubt. Maybe he could have waited until Watari had appeared at the base and then captured his image on the security cameras...

"You wouldn't have been able to find a picture, Light. I'm very careful."

"What? You knew?"

"I suspected that Misa can see names, and that you can't. That's why I was careful to keep Misa away from Watari, even when she lost her memory. Now I'm glad I did. Even if I die, at least one of your pursuers can escape murder."

"I'm no murderer," Light hissed, and his mind suddenly settled on a course of action. He walked to the bag on the kitchenette table, looking for a knife. "I've been chosen to judge this world, Ryuzaki. The people want me as their god, but you were foolish enough to try and stop me. And now you'll pay the price for hindering utopia-"

Light's head whipped around at the sound of Ryuk's laughter. The Shinigami was in bizarre hysterics. "What?" Light snapped. "What's so funny?"

Ryuk reappeared just a foot from his face. "Now Light is calling himself a Shinigami?"

"I have a Death Note, don't I?" Light spat back.

"You're not killing with the Death Note now, Light!" Ryuk threw back his head in silent laughter, and then returned to stare. "Violence."

"Justice is Justice, Ryuk. I'm not dumb enough to think that keeping order physically is any different than keeping order with the Death Note. I'm not dependent on the Death Note. My Justice is greater than that."

"Killing by hand." Ryuk twisted himself sideways so his grotesque arm stuck out at a humorous angle. "Isn't that...criminal?" The last word was said with strange emphasis.

"What makes you think I'm killing him, Ryuk? That so-called detective is going to die on his own, soon. I'm just ensuring he's useful before he dies. Give him a final purpose."

"You really think you're a god, Light?" Light glared one last time at Ryuk, and then batted at him with the knife. The Shinigami just laughed as the knife passed through his body. Light growled in irritation, and put the knife back in the bag. It was clean and elegant, yes, but blood was a hassle to deal with. He looked around for something heavier...he'd use broken bones, things that didn't stain white cotton shirts.

"You've seen the websites. You've seen the worship on the television screen. They love me. They _want_ me to be their God." He felt a passionate ring returning to his speech. "It's only fools like you, L, that don't see the truth, the good I bring to the world. Crime is down in Japan by 70 percent. 70_ percent!_ For the first time in history, people walk the streets without fear." He reached into the bag again and pulled out an eight-inch wrench, and tested its weight. He'd taken it from the trunk of their second car. Perfect.

If L saw him hefting the weapon, he didn't mention it. "Oh, they fear, Kira. They're terrified. Of you. It's only the stupid masses that love you...and your worshippers are the people who love the violence you bring, who get a thrill watching their supposed inferiors die on national television. You bring out the _worst_ in people."

"If they fear me, it's because they deserve to die. They know they've done something wrong." He studied his captive, trying to decide how to proceed.

L was staring in horrified amazement. "Light...I don't understand how you can be so intelligent and yet so simplistic. Are you really so childish to believe you can judge others?"

"Why not? Why not give me that power? Our legal system claims it can judge people, and look what that's accomplished! Killers released into the public sphere daily, innocent men incarcerated, crimes ignored or mishandled. You call that Justice?" He looked down at the wrench, and his eyes shone when he looked back at Ryuzaki. "The world is rotten, L, and so is the system judging it. Of all people, you should understand that. You're a detective, hired to hunt down criminals and 'bring them to justice'. You're no different than me."

"I don't kill them."

"No, you hand them over to the justice system to be killed." Light smirked at the irony, and decided to bite the bullet and take action. He grabbed the other chair and dragged it to L, calmly setting it to his captive's left side, and sitting so his knees almost touched the side of Ryuzaki's chair. L looked at him sideways, warily. "I know how you think. If you handed over a criminal that deserved to die and the justice system let him go, are you telling me you wouldn't hunt him down yourself?"

L remained silent.

"I thought so. For one who claims to have faith in the justice department, how many laws do you break on a regular basis, L? You too consider yourself above the law." Light let his face show his disgust, and he leaned forward, playing with the settings on the wrench. "Hypocrite. Your play at high morality is just a sham. Underneath, you think just like me."

"I never denied that some of my motivations are selfish. But at least I'm aware of my pride, and can keep it in check when there are greater demands," Ryuzaki responded. "Every person I bring to justice, Kira, I do my best to make sure he or she is given a complete trial...they aren't indicted until all the evidence is there. What evidence do you go off of? The media?"

Light wondered why he couldn't bring himself to start the interrogation. He supposed he had time.

A look of contempt was now gracing L's bruised features. "You hardly give your victims a second's thought. To have the confidence to judge anyone requires work and effort, sometimes years of it. Why do you think I haven't just killed you?" L sniffed with just a hint of haughtiness. "I could have, you know, without any negative consequences for myself. But because I had no proof, there was a small chance I was wrong, and it is _wrong_ to judge someone unless you are sure. And I don't trust my own judgment, not unless I have the support of others. You throw out punishment like it's cheap and uniform."

"Killing me as a vigilante would have saved the lives of hundreds of your precious criminals, so your moral high-ground is worthless, L." Light countered his opponent with a snarl. "You didn't kill me because that would be forfeiting our little game. And how dare you judge my method of punishment? While you waste time over-analyzing crimes and making sure one or two criminals aren't incorrectly punished, the rest of the madmen run free. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and this world is too rotten to wait for the legal system. It's taken me a year to accomplish what legal systems have been trying to do for the entirety of human civilization. And the world recognizes that. They love me for it."

"The families of the dead don't love you."

"They're nothing in the big picture," Light snapped.

"So are you."

Light froze at that. "I'm nothing?" He gave a small laugh, and then a stronger one in order to ward off the thought. "I've already told you, the world doesn't agree. And since the only thing separating an individual's justice from the legal system is mass consensus, then how is my justice inferior? The websites back me up, the people on the news back me up. The media loves me. I'm a god to them, L. And then you came along, and you told the people you were my equal, that you could kill their god."

_Why am I wasting my time with this conversation? _Light again thought that he was trying to put off the interrogation…it wouldn't be that hard to just put the wrench around one of Ryuzaki's spindly fingers, and squeeze until the bone popped and L started to spill out information. He knew it would take some time, maybe quite a few fingers, maybe some toes, so why not start now…

He hated himself for hesitating, but let the conversation continue; it covered up his cold feet, covered it for Misa, who was curled in the corner of the room watching silently. In his panic at headquarters, and his high-strung desperation, he would have happily shoved the pen in Ryuzaki's eyeball. But now, when things were calmer and he was in control, the rightness of that seemed less certain…more murky…

He just needed to stop pushing himself. He'd start when he was ready.

L was eying him in the temporary pause. "Light...something is still murky to me. Earlier on, why were you set on torturing me with the Death Note? It wasn't logical; the Death Note would have been just as effective without the pain, if not more so."

"You really need to ask me that?" Light sniffed in subtle amusement, looking down at the wrench. "I thought you would find that obvious."

L stared, unblinking. "No. It's not."

Light leaned in closer, a new, angry gleam entering his eyes . "Well, then, I'll be happy to educate you. I hate you. I hate everything about you. I want you to suffer."

L couldn't help leaning slightly away from Light's face, and those eyes. "Jealousy, then. For the first time in your life, you've met someone who you know is more intelli-"

"Don't flatter yourself. I hate you because I see who you really are...what the others don't. You're immature and manipulative," Light snapped, getting to his feet. "Your habits and physical appearance are disgusting. You act like a freak in public, you don't have standards of behavior. And yet everyone still talks about you like you're some kind of...intellectual batman. But you're a freak, L. You're a spoiled, sheltered little prodigy who thinks everyone should just bow to your whims." Light paused for breath, looking as if he had been dying to say these things for ages. "L, it's a good thing you keep your identity hidden, because if the world knew who you were, they would laugh at you."

"Unlike you, Light, I'm completely unconcerned with what the world thinks of me. Getting people to like me only matters so far as it helps the case."

Light pointed a finger. "Liar! You lie even to yourself. You're smart enough to recognize that you're a lonely, pathetic loser."

"I'd chose that over being a psychopath."

"Than you admit it!" Light leaned down, his angry eyes beaming straight into L's. "And you have bad taste in friends, Ryuzaki. You actually thought I liked you, didn't you?" He laughed. "I must have been acting better than I thought, if you actually fell for it."

L kept his voice quiet. "For me to assume you were a friend would have been presumptuous. Maybe I just said that to trick you, Light."

"That not your style, that's my style. You meant it." Light giggled, as if in amazement. "You actually thought you had a friend. I know maybe you thought I was different when I didn't have my memory, but guess what, L. Even then, when I didn't know I was Kira, I _hated you._" His eyes had hardened. " And now I can finally stop pretending I like you. I feel privileged to be the one to tell you that you're worthless."

L never let his protective 'you're an idiot' expression falter. Light was playing an amateur game by going straight for basic human insecurity to gain an advantage. L could deal with this strategy effortlessly, and he'd been doing so for ages.

But what made this different was the fact that there was an extremely high probability that Light was telling the truth. Only true hate explained Light's earlier sadism. He would be fine with the Light of old not liking him in particular, but outright hate was something else.

L felt something change in his attitude, something harden. The Light Yagami he had come to see as a friend was already dead, and that small part of him that had agonized over exposing his friend as Kira died as well. Now, he had no reservations.

Ryuzaki looked up to see Light staring at him with critical eyes, analyzing his silence. Light quirked a smile. "But soon they'll find your body and realize that you had no chance against me. Maybe I'll leave a message written on your shirt, in your own blood." His smile broadened and his eyes turned misty as he imagined it. "'I am L. Kira is God.' The media will love that. It will help my reputation immeasurably."

Light smiled inwardly as he observed L's jaw tighten. His simple comments were having emotional effect.

"Though just with your stupidity, L, you've helped me quite a bit over the last year."

L's expression flared into real anger, so extreme it was almost out of character. "You're wrong. You had all the advantages from the beginning, Kira. If you hadn't been so immature, you would have been impossible to find, for anyone. You led me straight to you."

Light jerked at the statement. There was some truth to it. If he hadn't responded to L's television broadcast, there was a chance L would never have honed in one him. "Nice try, but everything was part of my plan to bring you closer, so I could kill you directly." He studied his captive for a moment, suddenly feeling more insecure about how to proceed. But he didn't dare show it, and he smirked. "All my action was aimed at getting you were you are now."

"You lie." L's voice was quiet, but full of intense anger. "I know you got yourself in too deep. Why else would you be resorting to physical violence? Light-kun, I know exactly how you think, and you would never dirty your hands if you didn't have to. You're cornered." L's eyes widened in challenge. "Kira is feeling trapped."

"_I'm _trapped?" Some heat was creeping into Light's voice. "I'm not handcuffed to a chair, freak. I thought you were famous for staying behind the scenes and never exposing your identity. I know your name, your face, I know your weak points, I know your resources. I even know your psychological weaknesses. For you to let me know all that, _you_ were trapped.."

"I haven't lost yet, Kira. I too know your face and name! I know your weaknesses. It's true, if we both had our way, neither of us would have revealed our identities, but you don't have all the trump cards, Light! You're preparing to flee Japan, and what does that say? A true God would be able to stay in his home undetected, and wouldn't fear a local _police force_. You know you lost. And you know what happens to criminals who lose?" L's eyes widened in a sort of strange joy. "They're _killed._"

Light felt the same explosion of white-hot rage that had inspired him to attack Ryuzaki in the past, but this time, there was nothing holding him back. Before he even knew what he was doing, he was smashing his fist into Ryuzaki's face. Misa gave a small scream, and the chair was on ground, and he was punching multiple times, and L was shouting, and then he was kicking, and just when had grabbed L by the front of his shirt yanked him and chair upright with brute force, and his fist was pulled back for another blow, he stopped.

Somewhere in the room, he could hear the cheerful chirping of a cell-phone.

* * *

Light whipped his head to look at Misa, who was standing in the middle of the room with her hands covering her mouth. Breathing raggedly, he lowered his bruised fist. L's head was lolling backward on the chair, exposing a white neck; he was loudly trying to breath through the blood in his nose and mouth.

But still the cell-phone rang out, and the horrible realization of his mistake sunk in. He'd forgotten Misa had multiple cell-phones.

It rang twice more, and Light rushed over and snatched it from her. The little screen showed Matsuda's manager number. He clicked the talk button but stayed silent, and Matsuda's worried voice spoke into his ear. "Misa? Misa, is that you?"

Light didn't answer, but Matsuda continued. "You picked up, so I'm assuming you're there, Misa. Listen, I…I shouldn't be calling now, but I want to say that we know your general vicinity. We know you're probably with Light...his cell-phone was next to yours for a while, right? Misa? Listen, we know that both of you are Kira. I just, I want to tell you before something horrible happens, and before we all die...please don't kill us! Please, surrender! I don't want you to die either! Only the investigators know your secret, and if you and Light turn yourselves in, then we'll keep the legal proceedings hidden from the public. We haven't even told the police yet...please, Misa, just come to the police station and turn yourself and Light in. Is this Light? Is this-"

Light turned off the connection and stared blankly at the phone. So they knew. They had found surviving footage, or the Ls had seen it happen. And now stupid, stupid Misa had forgotten about her business cell-phone.

He continued to stare at it. At least they didn't know his exact location, so he still had time to throw them off while they escaped. He looked at Misa, and had to consciously control his anger.

"Light, I'm so sorry!" She blurted out, falling to her knees and looking up at him in terror. "When you said you wanted my cell-phone, I didn't know what you wanted it for, I didn't think you wanted all of them, and I forgot all about that one. I'm so sorry, Light, did something bad happen? Who called-"

Light grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "Misa, just…is this the only cell-phone left?"

She nodded.

"Go put this in somebody's car as they're leaving. There should be plenty of supply cars leaving, a bus, or a garbage truck. Go now."

Misa snatched the cutely accessorized phone from his hand, and ran out of the room without another word.

"Well, L, it looks like Watari and my father already figured it out. Thank god Matsuda is a sentimental idiot, or I wouldn't have had a warning." L didn't say anything, his face still bloody from the last beating, and Light realized that his knuckles hurt. He looked down and saw blood on his hand.

_So they know my identity. If I surrender, they won't release my name to the police or the public. But surrender isn't an option, so I need another way to buy time before they release my name. Do they know where I am? _As he thought, Light had to control his nervous energy. He was feeling out of control again, and he had to fight that. "My father won't release my name until he has no other choice, but Watari will have fewer misgivings. And I may not have time to get the truth about the other Ls before he contacts the media."

L let out a gargling laugh from his prone position on the chair. "Lost...faith in the power of torture already?"

"Shut up. You just want me to stay put, bastard. Torturing you would keep me stationary while they closed in on me. Shit. Shit shit shit." Light was pacing back and forth nervously as he thought. "I had hoped it would take them longer to find out I was Kira…now I can't catch the other Ls by surprise. And the only point in killing the Ls in the first place was to keep them from revealing my name to the public. But now they're moot." He froze and cast a piercing look at L. "You and Watari are now useless to me, and Watari's resources are a threat. Much better to have four bumbling detectives after me than a rich vigilante."

He studied L like he would some product at a sale. "I now have absolutely no reason to keep you or your right-hand man alive."

* * *

"You _idiot!"_ Matsuda quaked in front of Yagami's wrath. "You _called Light?"_

"I, I didn't think she would actually have it on her! I just called Misa-"

"You 'just called Misa'. Matsuda…!" Too furious to finish his sentence, Yagami began pacing back and forth, trying to collect himself. Matsuda looked close to peeing his pants.

"I just thought that since they were going to kill us anytime, that maybe if I appealed to Misa's better side…she really does have a better side, you can see it when she's in the movie shoot-"

"Matsuda, shut up!" Aizawa scolded. "You thought you were protecting our lives? Think for a moment, for once just use your head before you act. We were already closing in on the phone number, why didn't you just wait until we got there? Now Kira knows we're coming."

Matsuda suddenly seemed understand, and all the color left his face. "Now he knows that we're a threat…"

"And so according to that text message he left, you've now just doomed us all to die." Aizawa finished. Matsuda looked existentially horrified at what he had done, and just stood gaping at Aizawa like a fish. Aizawa threw his hands up in exasperation and turned away.

Yagami stalked away and walked up to Ide. "How close are we on closing in on that phone?"

Ide checked with the radio, before turning back. "The general location is about an hour away. I can have police on the place immediately."

"No. I don't want to risk their lies unnecessarily, and I don't want to announce what's happening to the broader police force yet. Sneaking up on Kira is still a possibility. We'll have to get there ourselves. Damn…we need to think like L. This is harder than I thought…Aizawa, Mogi!"

The two investigators appeared at his side, Matsuda too petrified to follow them. "Let's try and think like Ryuzaki. How would Kira respond to this?"

Mogi thought hard, then nodded. "He probably had the phone on him for a reason. Rai- I mean, Kira, does everything for a reason."

Aizawa tapped his finger on his lower lip. "Maybe it's a false lead like the other cell-phones. Matsuda said no-one said anything on the other line, so maybe it was answered by another victim."

"Or," Mogi spoke up, "maybe Kira predicted Matsuda would become sentimental and take this action. It is somewhat predictable, since he did it to protect Misa from a shootout, and to plead for our lives. That's pretty predictable, right?"

Soichiro was doubtful. "He could predict that far ahead?"

Mogi snorted. "Why not? In that case, he would have fair warning if we were closing in on him."

Aizawa shook his head. "Or he could have given the phone to a victim and had them forward the message while he hid somewhere else. And anyways, what if Matsuda hadn't called? Keeping the phone on his person would have been a liability."

Mogi perked up. "You're right, he could have swapped phones so we chased the wrong person, and controlled the victim to call him when Matsuda called-"

"So if we caught the current owner of Misa's phone, then we could use the redial to find his current number!"

After both Aizawa and Mogi shared a moment of triumph, Mogi frowned. "Wait, no, Kira would think of that. He'd just dump the other phone before we could find it-"

"Enough!" Yagami looked like he was getting a monstrous headache. "Forget it. Trying to think like L was a bad idea. Let's be simple and logical. This phone is our only lead, so we'll close in on the location it was at when Matsuda called."

Both Aizawa and Mogi looked relieved, and Yagami gave a quick look to Aizawa and rolled his eyes. "And get your thumb out of your mouth." Yagami turned to Ide again, but before he could even ask, Ide turned around with shining eyes. "We did it; we've narrowed down the phone's location to five blocks."

"Good. Tell Watari and let's start moving."

* * *

Misa returned almost immediately, triumphant. "Light, I snuck down the stairs and there was this couple packing clothes in their car, so I just tossed it in the trunk! They should be driving off any minute!"

"Good, now shut up, Misa, let me think. Rem." The Shinigami waited quietly. "I want you to kill Watari. You can do it, right?"

"Yes, I can do it. But I won't. You ask the same questions too often."

Light had somewhat expected the refusal, and a new strategy came to him almost immediately. "Rem, if you kill him, it won't harm you. I promise. There's no reason that it would extend Misa's life, because Watari isn't the one chasing us anymore, not specifically. You would just be doing it as a meaningless favor for me-"

"No!" L's eyes snapped fully open. "Rem, are you really still taking orders from him? You'll gain absolutely nothing by killing Watari."

Rem looked between both of them, L haggard and desperate, Light strong and demanding. This was a problem. She knew Misa's lifespan, but if Watari was supposed to catch Misa and give her the death sentence, then would killing him now extend her life? She'd never heard of a Shinigami meddling with interconnected life-spans like this before. It was new territory. And dangerous. "I don't know your plan, Light, but I know that if I killed someone to protect Misa, I might die. And if it's a meaningless favor, why do you want me to do it?"

"It would just be really helpful to me and Misa, that's all. It won't increase her life span or anything. Killing Watari will...will not protect me or Misa. But it would be helpful, I promise you-"

"Shinigami, he's lying. It is for him, and if you do something for Light, it's for Misa Amane-"

"Shut up!" Light screamed at L, and then whipped around to face Rem again. "It's to protect you!" His mind was obviously working overtime, and his face lit up with a new angle of attack. "I don't want you to kill him later when it would be protecting Misa, because then you might die. So if you kill him now, when he isn't endangering us, there is no risk to you! I promise you, Rem! You have to trust me! It's for your own protection-"

"NO!" Light had never heard Ryuzaki's voice so loud, and had never truly thought it possible. "Rem, can't you see he's lying? You just said that if you do something to protect Amane, you'll die, and that's what will happen! Don't listen to Light, he's tricking you-"

"Do it, Rem, do it now! Just kill h-"

"Quiet!" Rem's voice was unusually authoritative. She looked between the two young men with distrust, her strange hair dangling with the movement. Finally she turned to the wide-eyed girl standing inconspicuously to one side. "Misa Amane. What would you have me do."

Misa froze, and then walked up to Rem, looking back over her shoulder at the trapped L and passionately shaking Light. Misa suddenly realized how she could help her lover. "Rem, killing Watari won't help me at all, because the investigators already know about us. But it will help _you_, Rem! That way, if something happens and Watari is about to catch us, you won't have to kill him later and die! Please do it-"

"Don't do it, they're lying-"

Light struck Ryuzaki hard against the face with the back of his hand, and Ryuk made a noise of surprise, but it failed to keep L quiet. He just looked right back at Rem with eyes smoldering in panic.

"Rem, please just listen to reason! Writing the name is dangerous for you, and I don't want you to die either, don't kill Watari, please-" It turned to yelling as Rem took out a pen, and Light was smirking in victory. "No! Don't-"

"It is done." Rem finally lowered the book, and a furious sob came from L's direction. She paused and lifted her hand, studying it with interest. "I did not die. You were correct, Light Yagami."

"Of course I was correct." Satisfied, Light hurriedly began going through the legal documents and materials he had stolen from headquarters. "Misa? I want you to go get another man to give us his car keys. Can I trust you to do this? Just don't draw attention to yourself, and make sure he drives off with the car we just used. Ok?"

"Yes, Light! I will do my best!" Misa hurried out of the room, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Up in the sky, the copilot looked over to see the old man in combat clothes gasping for air and clutching his chest. By the time he found a place to land the helicopter, the old man was dead.


	4. The Walkway

**DEATH NOTE: UNSPOKEN RULES**

**Part 4: The Walkway  
**

* * *

"Next step! There's no point in keeping you alive either, Ryuzaki. I'm not dragging you along, and I'm sure as hell not leaving you behind for the investigators." Light pushed a chair out of his way and began scrambling in the bag for the gun with the silencer. "Ryuk! How's this for entertainment? I'm killing the bastard right now!" His adrenaline was rushing, and with it his cold feet had vanished, and he picked up the weapon with unwavering determination. He unclicked the safety and turned, only to find Rem blocking his way.

"Light, stop. If you try and kill L, I'll write your name in my Death Note." Rem's pen was posed above a black book.

Light hadn't seen this coming. "Why?"

"Because his death has already been written down. It's against the rules to kill him ahead of his time. He must die in 23 days."

"What happens if I break the rules?"

Rem shared a look with Ryuk. "I don't know," she admitted. "When a Shinigami breaks a rule, we turn to sand. I don't know what happens to a human. But I don't want you to risk it. It could be that nothing happens, but if it meant you died early, then Misa would die.

"So you would kill me to stop me from dying?" Light asked incredulously. Rem seemed to see the flaw in her oh-so-brilliant plan, and her lips twisted unhappily. She put away her Death Note and simply stood between him and L as a solid, physical barrier.

"You'll stop me from killing him, will you Rem? Fine."

_You can't touch me because Misa would pine at my death, maybe even commit suicide...but there's no way in hell I'm risking direct physical confrontation with a Shinigami, even if..._

A thought clicked in Light's mind, an absolutely brilliant thought. With lightning speed, his mind ran over the idea, double-checking it for flaws, weighing different scenarios, and finally approving a course of action. He lowered the gun and stared at the Shinigami.

_I won't let you hold me back anymore, Rem. No one has the right to control my actions._

* * *

Rem blinked in confusion when Light snatched up one of the Death Notes and marched out of the motel room. What was he doing? This made no sense whatsoever. She and Ryuk simply stared after him, and shared another glance.

Ryuk shrugged. "You made him angry. I don't know what he'll do next. He's very unpredictable."

L had raised his head to stare vacantly into the middle-distance. "Rem. Why do you listen to him? You're a coward. A foolish coward."

Rem stiffened. "A human has no right to call me that. It's not my fault Misa Amane is foolish enough to love him."

She paused, surprised to hear knocking on the door. She and Ryuk abandoned the stricken figure of Ryuzaki to see what was going on outside.

As she melded through the wall into the morning light, she saw a young man in a janitor's outfit worriedly banging on the wood, and farther down the open walkway, Light striding back to confront him. His expression was calm and collected once again. "Sir? That's my room. Can I help you?"

The man seemed to know the room was Light's, and he furtively avoided making eye contact. "I thought I heard screaming, and a fight. Who else is in there?"

A soft, embarrassed smile crossed Light's face, and Rem had to admit that if nothing else, the boy was a master actor. "Oh, that. I'm sorry if it disturbed you. My friend and I were having a bit of an argument, but it worked out fine. There's no problem now."

"I already called it in to my manager," the janitor continued. "I told him I'm going to check inside, just to make sure nothing strange-"

"There's no need for that," Light interrupted smoothly, moving to block the door. "I told you, we'll stay quiet from now on. Your nametag says Kim Chung-hee. That's your real name?"

The man's defensiveness increased. "Duh. You have a problem with my heritage? Look, mister, if you have nothing to hide, then let me see the room-" The man suddenly blanched. "You have blood on you! What's going on in there? I'm calling my manager-"

"Stop!"

"No way, man, there's blood all over you!" As the janitor lifted a radio up to his mouth, Light reached out and snatched it from him, and the man yelped and jumped backwards. "Hey, give that back! Don't make me call the cops too!" He was quickly becoming frightened, and Light was already writing his name in the Death Note. "What the hell are you doing? Look, I really am going to call the cops..." He babbled nervously on for some time, unable to contact anyone without his radio, and Ryuk and Rem couldn't help staring in amazement when the man's face suddenly became uninterested and slack. His lifespan decreased to a measly 24 hours. "Actually, that just looks like you got a bloody nose."

"Good observation. Now please leave my room alone." Light handed him back his radio.

"Sorry to bother you. I'll tell my manager nothing is wrong."

A few polite phrases later and the man simply walked away. Rem stared at his receding back in fascination, before turning to Light. "What are you planning, devil?"

Light shrugged and smiled. "If you're so curious, why don't you follow him a bit and see?"

Rem stared at him for a moment, feeling manipulated and angry that he wouldn't tell her. She really had no idea what Light was planning next. Had he sent this man after Misa? Maybe he was trying to get rid of Rem the Shinigami…maybe he wanted to get rid of Misa herself. The janitor wouldn't kill her because it was outlawed in the Death Note for one death to cause others, but still, the man could still _hurt_ her…

Light turned abruptly and started walking away, and she snarled at his retreating back. Deciding to act on impulse, she turned to Ryuk. "Do me a favor. Don't let him shoot L while I'm gone."

Ryuk shrugged his massive black shoulders. "Why not? I don't care if he hurts himself."

Rem glared at him with full ferocity, and Ryuk held up his hands in a human gesture of acquiescence. "Ok, ok! Though I really could care less."

Satisfied, she slipped after the janitor to make sure he wasn't going to hurt the girl, wherever she was. Ryuk really should have been tailing Misa, his 'owner', at all times, but the hedonistic bastard was stretching the rules to hover around Light instead. She understood why; drama and bloodshed followed the boy like dung gathered flies, and Ryuk was as addicted to those things as he was to apples. No. She would get no aid from Ryuk's side when it came to keeping Misa, and herself, alive.

* * *

Unaccompanied by either Shinigami, Light was once again marching down the partially covered walkway, one side of which was open to the parking lot below and the other side lined by largely vacant rooms. He thanked his luck that the janitor had appeared. It had provided the perfect opportunity to distract Rem, and his next plan depended on her not seeing what he did. He finally stopped to listen at a door, and after hearing voices, used the master key he had stolen from the janitor to step inside.

He entered to find a man and woman gawking at him from under the covers of their bed. The man sat up in shock. "Hey! What the hell, didn't you see the 'do not disturb' sign?" The woman looked like a sex worker, and the man was middle-aged, ugly, and disheveled.

Light calmly lifted his gun and pointed it at the man, who ended his defiance with a squeak and held his hands up. "Where are your wallets?" The man nodded to a purse and a wallet on a table nearby, and keeping the gun trained on the couple, Light fished through them with one hand. The woman was starting to whimper, but he sent a calm warning glance and she quieted. Seeing they were completely cowed, he rested the gun on the table and began writing the names off their ID cards.

He noticed Ryuk had caught up and was watching like a bipedal spider in the corner of the ceiling. It didn't matter. He doubted Ryuk would spoil things by retelling what he had seen.

When he was finished, he walked to the table and disconnected the room phone, took their two cell-phones and removed the batteries, put said batteries and gun in his bag, bowed politely, and left the room.

As he and Ryuk walked back to the room, he gave a sigh of relief. He'd managed to stay calm during the whole thing, but still…a few hours before, he would never have imagined he'd be holding people at gunpoint. He didn't like hurting or scaring random civilians like that, even when they looked like scumbags, and he looked forward to regaining enough security so it wasn't necessary any more. It was really Ryuzaki's fault, damn him, for pushing him so far that he had to resort to violence and killing civilians…

He checked his watch. 7:21:05. Good, the danger of either of those miserable humans calling for help was over, and the Death Note would have taken affect. His heart started beating fast, knowing things were about to get hectic.

He'd quietly learned something from the Shinigami, and he wanted to try and use that observation to his advantage. Both Ryuk and Rem had told him that the Shinigami had certain rules they couldn't break, ones that weren't in the Death Note. The tale of Jealous was one example of a broken rule: if a Shinigami did something unnatural like extending the life of a human, the penalty was death.

He knew of another one that they hadn't told him. Both Ryuk and Rem had never, even once, taken significant physical action in the human world. He knew they were capable of it. Ryuk's apple-eating was all too real, but he sensed that even this tiny physical action was unusual for a Shinigami. It was simple logic: interacting physically in the human world was possible and even pleasurable, but they refused to do it. Therefore, it was forbidden. And he had a very strong idea of what would happen if they truly broke that law.

With a satisfied smile, he unlocked his own room and re-entered to find L still slumped in his chair. His nemesis vouchsafed Light a venomous look. Probably still sulking over the death of Watari.

"Hey Light." Ryuk trailed in behind him, his head cocked sideways in blank curiosity. "What did you just do? I know you wrote their names-"

Rem glided through the wall at that moment. "Light, that man didn't do anything interesting."

Light turned to cock an eyebrow at the white monster. "What did you think he was going to do?"

But she didn't have time to answer, because at that very moment Misa barged back into the room in triumph. "Light, I got just what you wanted, she was alone in the room-"

"Misa-" Rem tried to warn her, but a half-dressed man plunged through the door behind her. Misa whirled around and shrieked in surprise, and the man's eyes latched onto her and he lunged to grab her by the throat. "You killed her! You killed my Yuki, you killed her-" Misa fell choking and clawing helplessly onto the bed as the man started to strangle her.

Rem, unable to help her physically, took everything in a heartbeat. The man's lifespan was eight more minutes, which gave him plenty of time to hurt Misa, but Misa's lifespan was unchanged from before, giving her years to live, so she wasn't in mortal danger…but still, Rem held her notebook at the ready. Misa was trying to fight back with all the strength in her skinny limbs, but it seemed to do nothing. Rem tried not to meddle, knowing soon it would be over, that Light would help her soon…

Misa was trying to call Light's name, and in front of her, Rem saw Light yell her name back in a panic, but instead of running straight to help her, he closed the door first. What the…then he was trying to pull the crazed man off her, Misa sobbing in panic.

"Get off her!" Light shouted, pulling at the man. Rem's mind continued to spin; why wasn't he using the Death Note? Then she remembered: he couldn't get the name from Misa, and he didn't want the noise of a gunshot.

_But he had no reservations about using the gun on Lawliet..._

Either way, it was obvious that Light was currently helpless, and so it was up to Rem to kill the attacker. Killing the man wouldn't extend Misa's life anyway, so there was no danger in it. She lowered her pen, but hesitated when a new thought hit her. Had Light controlled this man? She'd lost track of the devil, so it was plausible…but no. He wouldn't benefit from hurting Misa, not while she had the eyes. _He wouldn't be so stupid. _

Misa's arms started to flop and she turned straight to Rem in asphyxiated panic, gasping like a fish, pleading with her eyes for help. Her sweet Misa…and Rem couldn't stop herself.

She wrote Tomo Takano in the middle of a page.

She had to wait another agonizing 40 seconds for the death to take effect, counting down the seconds with the impatience of a human, and leaning forward anxiously when the time hit…but nothing happened. The man still laughed and sobbed maniacally, and Misa was now being shaken like a rag doll while Light tried ineffectively to pull Takano off her. Rem stared in disbelief. How…had she written it down wrong?

No, the name was correct. Her Death Note was useless. Which meant one thing: his name had already been written in a Death Note.

She felt a great rage fill her entire being. How _dare _he. How _dare he!_ This was a sin, sicker than anything humans had done before. But why? Why was he hurting Misa? Had Ryuk known? Why hadn't the bastard warned her? She turned to see her disloyal peer taking in the spectacle with fascination.

She realized Light was pretending to be weak, yelling Misa's name and letting her flop like a fish without actually helping. In fitting confirmation, at that instant Light turned and smirked at her from above the pile of thrashing limbs.

"Shinigami, listen to me!" She registered L's shout of warning, and whipped her head to look at him. L was straining at his cuffs in earnestness. "Read the Death Note, it's on the table. Do it!"

Rem opened it and flipped through, feeling all the while the horrible pain of her loved one, trying to focus through the panic that was so foreign to her. She found the page.

7:21:00 AM Akane Yuki dies instantly of heart failure.  
7:21:00 AM Tomo Takano quietly watches Akane Yuki die, and does not inform anyone. Tomo Takano enters room 20B, which contains two Shinigami, and immediately begins to strangle a girl, who suffers severe pain.  
7:28:00 AM Girl being strangled suffers severe brain damage by asphyxiation: retains ability to follow orders of her lover.  
7:30:00 AM Tomo Takano dies instantly of heart failure.

Rem realized she had never encountered anything or anyone as loathsome as Light Yagami.

She spun around to L, throwing the Death Note to one side. "What does he want, human? Tell me!"

"Shinigami, he's trying to bait you!" L shouted back, his eyes alight with a rage similar to what she was feeling. "He wants to kill you! Whatever it is, it's a trick!"

A trick? No. It was a standoff. Light was putting on a grand show of panic for Misa, but the girl was no longer aware of her surroundings, and had no way of noticing when Light sent Rem another cruel smirk. Daring her. Taunting her. The sick perversion of it, dangling a loved one like bait. Taking advantage of stupidity was one thing, but to use love…she realized she had only one power left in the world to stop it.

But she didn't have to use it yet. "Devil!" She demanded of Light, her voice vengeful and powerful. "You wouldn't dare hurt her. You'll stop this. You didn't put in a clause for what type of brain damage. She could be rendered useless to you!"

Light was staring at her with eyes that practically glowed with unholy light. Takano had pulled Misa to her feet and was now flinging her around in a rage. She was only scarcely conscious, enough to feebly fight back, though the effort was pathetic. Light stood calmly and stared directly at Rem, matching her. He exuded supreme confidence, supreme malice.

_He's just a pathetic human._ Rem stared back, though it was difficult to not look down when Misa was thrown cruelly at her feet, and the brain-dead man grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back. Still she did nothing, obeying the laws of her kind.

She'd called Light's bluff. He knew it. He'd pull his gun on the man before it happened, because there was no way he'd risk Misa, not his greatest asset. And Rem would stay alive and look after the girl.

She just had to wait him out.

For ten seconds, then twenty, they stared at each other, rigid as statues, willing each other to break. He wouldn't risk it. He wouldn't risk it. But then another gleam entered Light's eyes. As the slow euphoria spread over Light's face, Rem saw the depths of his madness. He'd pushed his morality too far, and it had cracked. He was no longer human.

One emotion filled her entire being, and it was hate. It fought with her love for Misa, competed with the urge to rend Light's fleshy body to threads, to show him the power he was daring to toy with, to humiliate him so deeply that his suffering couldn't even be contained by nothingness. But Misa's love for him held the hate back.

Light had won. She had lost.

But her pride meant nothing, not when there was Misa to look after.

After solidifying her body, she stepped forward to lift Takano off Misa as if he were light as a feather. The man gave a silent scream of terror at being gripped by nothingness, and as he thrashed in the air, she snapped his neck like a twig. She tossed the body aside and looked down at the half-conscious Misa, who was now gasping for breath like she had never tasted oxygen in her life. Sweet relief flooded Rem at the realization that Misa was safe. She had done her duty.

L was glaring at her with tragic fury. "Fool…"

Yes, she was a fool. Rem's hands were feeling strange, and she looked down to see them disintegrating, just like Jealous' had. Her Death Note fell through her fingers, and she touched it with her mind so that it burned as it fell. That bastard would never touch her Death Note. That his foul hands touched Misa was already too much, but he would never have another tool to help him. It died with her.

She turned her last look to Misa. The devil was on top of the girl, pleading with Misa to stay conscious while watching Rem out of the corner of his eye, putting on another grand performance of melodrama.

She didn't understand humans. She didn't even understand Misa, when it came down to it. Or did she? Rem had been foolish to love the girl, and Misa had been foolish to love Light, so maybe they had the same flaw.

She felt her feet disintegrating, and stared straight into Misa's bloodshot eyes, and knew Light would destroy the girl. But at least she had some time left, where she could be happy…and L was still alive…

"Misa-" Mu and nothingness soon replaced the beautiful eyes she'd been foolish enough to love.

* * *

L's jaw was clenched in disgust as Light worried and fretted over the battered form of Misa. In general L had little sympathy for a girl who heartlessly slaughtered police officers, but to see anyone used this way was horrifying.

Light was practically in tears, and when Misa shuddered and lifted a delicate finger to his face, he hugged her as if in frantic relief. "Oh, Misa, I was so worried, I couldn't kill him with the Death Note, I didn't know his name-"

_Liar._ L knew exactly what had happened; his mild concussion may have caused him to see double, but it hadn't seriously affected his mental processing. Misa, of course, would have no idea that Light was responsible for the attack, and even if L tried to tell her, her denial would render the truth meaningless. He didn't even want to see what had been written in the Death Note. Something sick enough that even a Shinigami refused to let it happen.

And Rem had been the only being in the room amenable to reasoning. Misa would let Light chop off her arms if she thought it would please him, so enamored was she with the pleasurable thralls of masochism.

Misa was now holding onto Light shaking like a leaf and sobbing through her brutalized throat and body, and L was too disturbed too watch. He looked at Ryuk instead, who was standing over the pile of sand in bewilderment.

So Light's killing spree even included Shinigami. L couldn't help but be impressed, horrific as it was. Killing a Shinigami was no easy feat, and even though Light's behavior was increasingly erratic, like that of a cornered animal, still there was that dangerous brilliance that permeated all his actions. Light Yagami's immaturity, his megalomania, his intelligence, and his Death Note made him the most dangerous human on the planet. L had to give himself some credit for not being dead yet.

Ryuk noticed him watching, and returned the look. "L. Do you know what happened here?"

"I thought that was obvious, Shinigami," L blinked. "Light wanted to shoot me, Rem wouldn't let him, and so he threw a tantrum and killed her." _Me next._

Ryuk blank eyes were wider than usual. "Can he kill me too?"

"I doubt it. Not if you don't break any rules with your Death Note."

Ryuk took a pace closer, his brows furrowing and a finger poking at his black chest. "Hey L, you wouldn't lie to me, would you?"

"Why would I lie to you, Shinigami? I have nothing against your kind. I just want Light Yagami dead."

Light overhead all of this, and after whispering a few more sweet things to Misa and helping her sit feebly upright on the bed, he left her side and walked to the counter. "Wishful thinking, L." His next line went unsaid because of Misa, but L knew exactly what it was. _Two down, one to go._

His movements strong and brutal, and his eyes still shining from his recent success, Light removed the gun from the bag and leveled it at L's head. Ryuzaki stared down the barrel at the eyes behind it, and knew there was a very, very high probability that this was his last moment alive.

Pity. Not that he feared death, but he feared the deaths that would follow his own, what might happen to civilians, to policemen…and most of all, Chief Yagami and the other investigators. He had already failed Watari, and he didn't want to fail the others as well. They would be paying for mistakes _he_ had made, miscalculations that he had never recognized till now. It should have been only his responsibility to die, not them too...

Light was practically vibrating in triumph. "Then this is it, L. You couldn't defeat me. After I kill you, I'm going kill everyone pursuing me, and Misa and I will vanish. Even the other Ls won't be able to find me." He smiled, and L was to see a hint of respect in it. "Goodbye, L. You were a good opponent. And you know what? You were even an ok friend." Light unclicked the safety. "You just made the mistake of going up against a God."

But right as he would have pulled the trigger, the hulking figure of Ryuk was suddenly blocking him. "Wha - Ryuk, move!" Both L and Light were equally surprised.

Ryuk looked slightly unsure of himself as he held his pen to his Death Note, but he stood firm anyway. "Light, as much as I hate to intrude, I can't let you kill L either."

"What- why not? That's ridiculous, Ryuk! What do you care what happens to me?"

"I don't. But I don't want you breaking any rules with my Death Note."

"This is Rem's spare Death Note."

"Wrong wrong! Rem is dead, and that Death Note is mine now. Well...at least I think it works that way. But the point is, if you try to kill L before his time is up, well, I think you might be breaking a rule."

Shaking and wide-eyed, Light slowly started to lower the gun. "What do you care if I break a rule, Ryuk? Isn't that all part of the entertainment?"

Ryuk cocked his head sideways. "To me, yes. But the God of Reapers doesn't like his rules to be broken." The grotesque face shoved within inches of Light's. "And I don't want to risk...punishment."

Light snarled. "Ryuk, you coward, you're just scared because of what happened to Rem." But he lowered his gun anyway. _Unlike Rem, I think Ryuk could actually kill me. Better not risk it._

"Fine. As much as I'd love to see Ryuzaki die, I guess leaving him alive a bit longer won't hurt. He's harmless right now, anyways." Light smiled reassuringly at Ryuk and placed the gun back on the table. "See? We'll just take L with us. In fact, guess what, Ryuzaki? If Misa and I get tired of you, we can just leave you to live out your final days in a dumpster somewhere, maybe a nice ditch. Fitting end to your life, eh L?"

"You're sick, Light Yagami. I didn't think even Kira would treat life so cheaply," L responded, his mind racing overtime. _Why are you listening to Ryuk? Do you think he'd actually stop you? Or did you finally realize that you were starting to lose control and embark on a killing spree, without rationally looking at the consequences? Frightened of yourself?_

Light stared at L with a fixed smile, and while his subconscious aligned with L's analysis, he would never consciously admit this was the case.

_Well L, if I get tired of you, I can just blow your brains out when Ryuk is distracted. Unlike Ryuk, I don't hail to a God of Reapers. I hail only to myself._

* * *

Light disappeared briefly to flush the incriminating page of the Death Note down the toilet, and was walking over to help Misa get to her feet when the room phone rang. Light stared at it in disbelief. How? Why did phones keep following him? It continued to ring and he walked towards it warily. Was it room service? Had someone heard the screaming from Misa? He'd told the janitor to dissuade any complaints from patrons, and assure the manager all was fine...he carefully lifted the receiver to his ear.

"Light? Hello? This is your father. Son? Are you there?" Light's jaw dropped. "Listen to me carefully. We know you or Misa killed Watari, we know Ryuzaki is probably dead, and we know that we're probably next - so as a precaution we've alerted the police to your identity. They are now closing in on your location. Light? Light, answer me! Damn- look, there is no reason for you to keep running. You can't kill an entire police force. Matsuda made a mistake by calling you earlier, but if you continue, you only increase your own chance of being hurt. Listen to your father, son. Surrender and just stay in the motel room, and stop the needless killing-"

Light didn't want to hear any more, and slammed the phone back down. Shit. Things had just gone from fine, to bad, to worse. His panic came back like a flood. "Shit, shit, shit, how did they find my exact location, how did they find my _room number_?" Misa's phone was long gone, and he was positive there were no trackers on him or on Misa...

"Ryuzaki!" He grabbed Ryuzaki by the hair and forced the man to look at him. "Where is it? Where's the tracer?" L tried to stay stoic, but Light forced a response by grabbing the stab wound on his shoulder. L choked back a scream. "Where is it?"

Light loosened his grip and L sucked in ragged breath. "Will you _stop it_? I don't have a tracer on me, you idiot, they probably just found the motel nearest Misa's cell-phone signal and asked the owner for a room number...agh! You did check in, right? Even if you used a fake name, the front desk could have confirmed a physical description-"

Light thought for a second, and in pure frustration at this now obvious mistake, slammed his fist into L's stomach. L slumped forward and Light stormed backwards in fury. "Damn! I should have used someone else to reserve the room!"

Another silly, silly mistake, and again his position was compromised. However, that didn't mean that he was trapped. Far from it. The call had closely corresponded with the death of Watari, and as the puzzle pieces came together he saw he still had time. Still, he paced like a trapped animal.

"So they've alerted the police. Maybe I shouldn't have killed Watari. It spooked them, made them fear for their own lives. But by killing Watari, I ensured that the other Ls wouldn't be able to find much about me...it cut them off...but now...the other Ls, they don't even matter...my name, they know me, they know my face, the public will know my face, my name, damnit, DAMNIT!" He kicked the wall with his foot and Misa gave a small scream. L stayed slumped over his stomach, breathing through his nose and shaking.

_Stay focused on the immediate._ He was feeling fear, and this relatively new emotion was still strange to him, it confused him. His father's phone call didn't mean that police were outside waiting to arrest him...it actually meant the opposite. They had probably just informed the local police force, and it would take time for the men to get equipped with headgear and tinted car windows; the Director would never endanger the men without proper precautions.

However, the death of Watari had probably panicked the investigators into thinking they were about to die, hence their call to the motel. By calling now, they risked tipping Light off to their trap, but they also stood the chance of convincing Light to surrender and spare their lives. If Light were truly surrounded, they wouldn't have bothered with the phone call, they would have just charged in. So it was a bluff, and he had time to get out, but he had to get out smoothly…

"What's my next move, my next move...I can do this. Alright. First step. L, I'm not leaving you, you'll help them catch me if they find you. Better I keep you hidden until you die...we'll get on the highway...take the car, just find a place to hide, use the Death Note to get out of Japan...a boat, maybe? I can get on a boat, flying is no good...get to water...that's it. Car first. Misa, we're going!"

Misa nodded, and still holding her tender throat, she stood shakily on skinny legs. "Wha-" it came out as a croak, and she swallowed painfully and tried again. "What can I do?"

"Don't try speaking, I know it hurts." Light's rough plan gave him a sense of control again. "Start the car, pull it into that parking spot I pointed out earlier." Misa nodded. "And try to stay out of the way; your injuries might draw attention."

Light had picked a room next to a stairwell so they could reach the parking spot at the base easily and in relative privacy. While Misa wobbled weakly to the door and exited, Light grabbed the bag and began throwing things back in it...the extra handcuffs, the gun, and the two Death Notes. He slung the bag over his shoulder, and after one last survey of the room, turned to L.

"Ryuzaki, I'm going to knock you unconscious."

Now L glared in full frustration, his eyes wide and his body straining at the cuffs. "Light, stop hitting me! I know you like fist-fights from our handcuff issue, but this is ridiculous-"

"Shut up." Light grabbed a large porcelain lamp and yanked the cord out of the socket. L furiously tried to jerk his chair backwards, but Light ignored the effort, and smashed the base of the lamp into the side of L's head. Sharp porcelain pieces scattered everywhere. The chair toppled with L sprawled on the ground, bleeding and hardly moving, but groaning softly. Light hurriedly took the key out of his pocket and uncuffed L from the chair, before cuffing them behind his back again. He was getting good at it.

As he put the key back in his pocket, he tried to ignore the fact that his hands were shaking.

He grabbed L under the armpits and began dragging the deadweight towards the door, his feet crunching noisily on the broken porcelain. Near the door, he had to shove the corpse of Takano out of his way with his foot.

He let Ryuzaki fall to the ground and cracked open the door to see if the way was clear; it was early morning, a potentially busy time for a motel.

Misa appeared around the stairwell, and he waved her closer. She hurried over. The red fingerprints on her neck were obvious in the morning light, and while they weren't bruises yet, it was another reason for them to get to the car unobserved. "Misa, grab him by the other arm, we're going to carry him. Wait, you see that jacket over there? Here, help me drape it so...there." With a jacket over L's shoulders, they pulled him to his feet and held the limp body upright. Then they were maneuvering out the door, carefully, with Light looking anxiously up and down both directions.

When they carried L down the stairwell, they almost dropped him on the last few stairs, and had to freeze when they heard voices nearby...Light held his breath until they faded and he heard a door slam somewhere. He pushed L into the corner by the stairwell and held him upright by leaning on him with his body weight, and cracked open the door for Misa to peer out. She nodded that the way was clear. Early morning sunlight streamed around her.

"Misa, go turn the car on. Then unlock every door and open the trunk for Ryuzaki." Misa nodded again and slipped out of view. Light continued to press his back against the warmth of Ryuzaki's body, and hoped fervently that no one would walk down the stairwell and see them like that.

"Shit-" Ryuzaki's body began to slide and Light failed to keep him from slumping down to the ground. Even in unconsciousness the man was finding ways to mess with him. As he tried to hoist L back upright, the door opened quickly and he whipped around with his heart in his throat. L thumped to the floor again, and he gasped in relief when he saw it was just Misa. "God! Warn me next time!" He hissed.

"Sorry!" Her voice was hoarse, but functioning now. "I turned the car on, but I don't know how to open the trunk, I can't find the button. All the buttons are in English, and I don't understand English very well, Light-" she stopped and touched her throat, obviously in pain.

"Forget it, help me get him in the back seat. Make it look natural. On the count of three. One, two, three." They pushed open the door and dragged L's skinny form to the car, pushing him the back seat rather indiscriminately. After shoving one last bare foot all the way in and closing the door, Light ran to start the engine.

Maybe he'd be lucky and there would be no security cameras watching the parking lot, and the police would have a hard time identifying their getaway car. Not that he was feeling lucky today. He'd have to expect the worst-case scenario, and find a way to change cars, quickly.

* * *

**Ihasabukkit: **I need to thank **little dog** for the current state of the Rem sequence; her beta-ing was key in making it fit to canon. And a second shout out to** CheeseFaerieXXL **and **Kaylabirde** and others for helping me plug some of the smaller leaks. Working with others makes psychopathic violence a whole lot more fun.


	5. The Highway

**DEATH NOTE: UNSPOKEN RULES**

**Part 5: The Highway**

* * *

Thirty seconds later they had pulled onto the main road, and Misa had one of the Death Notes in front of her, ready to write whatever Light told her to.

Light was having a hard time controlling his anxiety level, and his hands were shaking and his breathing was unsteady. His eyes were darting nonstop to the rearview mirror for signs of the police. "Misa. Are you listening?"

"Of course! Misa is always listening, Misa is-"

"I want you to kill my father and the investigators."

"WHAT?" Her outburst brought on a quick bought of coughing, which she controlled quickly, looking truly upset. "But, Light, he's your father!"

"Misa, we need to do this. They've betrayed us, and they know too much about us. You want to create a better world, don't you? One where we can live together?"

"Yes, of course, but...your father...and Matsuda..."

"Misa-" Light said in a warning growl, his patience obviously nonexistent.

"Oh...ok, I'm writing Mr. Aizawa's name. Wait, is that his real name?"

"Yes, just make sure you get the characters ri-AGH!"

Light suddenly felt his head slammed against the steering wheel, and Misa screamed. He tried to wrestle the wheel back under control, but Ryuzaki had somehow gotten between them over the seat, a tangle of torso and head butting and kicking feet. Misa screamed again and dropped the Death Note as L kicked her hard in the face, his back shoving against Light's shoulder and making it almost impossible to drive. Light tried hitting L with his elbow, but L had shoved too far over to Misa's side and was pummeling her screeching form with whatever strength he had, trying to separate her from the instrument of death.

"The gun, Misa, where's the bag, get the gun, damn it Ryuzaki!" L turned wild eyes on him as Light leaned quickly to grab the bag with his right hand, groping to find the gun. Ryuk was outside on the front window like a spider, staring in with wide eyes and amazement. Their car was swerving madly, and he heard honking and saw other cars pulling away. The car screeched and jerked as he sideswiped another car, and he had to fight to wrest it back under control.

Misa was actually fighting back, punching Ryuzaki and shrieking obscenities with all her might, and while L may have been stronger, prior injuries and handcuffs were putting him at a huge disadvantage. Light finally felt the cool metal of the gun, and still trying to watch the road, tried to aim it at Ryuzaki, who saw and tried to shove closer to Light's body and therefore closer to safety.

"Damnit-" The gun went off, and Misa screamed; L curled up in pain, but Light wasn't sure where he had hit him. He once again controlled the wheel and swerved back into the main lane, before again lowering the gun to point at the back of Ryuzaki's head. He yelped when Ryuk's head appeared in his line of sight.

"Damnit, Ryuk, fuck-"

Ryuk spun upside down with his constant grin and his Death Note at the ready. Light tried to choke down the impulse to hit the face in frustration. "Fine! I get it!"

Instead Light looked back to Ryuzaki; it was only for a millisecond that their eyes connected, but time seemed to stretch out...L with his shaggy hair and a bloodstained white shirt, with Misa still trying to do her best to pummel him. But then Light broke the spell and with all his might, smashed the butt of the gun towards his opponent. He missed the head, but Ryuzaki's eyes bulged and he fell forward as the gun hit his lower neck.

Light readjusted the car with his left hand and smashed down again, this time scoring directly on the back of Ryuzaki's skull. Ryuzaki slumped forward onto Misa and into a pile of barefoot limbs, shaggy hair, and blood. Misa had given up screaming and was simply breathing raggedly with wide eyes, and she quickly began trying to shove Ryuzaki's semi-conscious body off her and into the leg-space in front of the seat.

Light returned both hands to the wheel, and tried to regain a semblance of control.

"Keep an eye on him, Misa, tell me if he starts to wake up. I can just shoot him again-"

"Light!" Misa had turned to peer behind them, and Light cursed when the familiar sound of a police siren entered the cacophony of car horns.

"Shit. Damn you Ryuzaki...shit!" He pounded his fist against the wheel, and had to consciously stop himself from removing his foot from the acceleration and kicking the man. "Misa, move him and get the bag. Where's the Death Note?"

"It's...oh god oh god, it's under him, I'm not sure, it's so bloody Light-"

"Just get the Death Note out, hurry!"

Misa managed to pull L back so the limp body was propped against the seat between them, and reached down with trembling hands to grab the bag and second Death Note. "Ok, I got it. Should I kill your father, what should I do-"

"Don't bother with that now, there's no time. I just need to get off the road. The policeman following us, try and see if you can get his name and kill him in an accident. Alright? Watch carefully."

"Alright! I'll find him. But I can't see. Light, I think there's two of them, they have some sort of helmet on-"

_Damn. That means these police aren't responding to traffic problems; they know they're chasing Kira._

Light made a quick decision and swerved towards a major onramp, cars still honking madly and a few screeching to avoid his erratic driving. It was very reminiscent of how the third Kira had died...but unlike then, the police couldn't predict his destination or route, and so a police-block would be much more difficult. And a main road provided more chances for off ramps and escape, if worst came to worst.

The sirens were growing stronger, but Light controlled his breathing and strengthened his grip on the steering wheel. The broad expanse of the eight-lane highway opened in front of him. He smoothly pressed his foot to the acceleration and the car merged seamlessly into traffic. The effort was probably pointless as the cops had already profiled his car, and blending innocuously into traffic was out.

Next to him L groaned, and Misa peered around him to look at Light with terrified, pleading eyes. Light was too busy dealing with the situation to feel any sympathy for the girl's emotional state.

Lights and a siren appeared behind him, and other cars responded by trying to merge out of the danger. A car chase? There was no way he could outrun the police in this cheap car, especially once their numbers increased. But if he went off the major roads, it would be easier to trap him. Had getting on the highway been a bad decision?

No time to think, no time to think, he had to get out of car and get hidden, in an alley, on a bus, a bathroom, a car...any place where he could manipulate people with the Death Note and see their faces. Then yes, getting on the freeway _had_ been a bad decision. He needed smaller roads, he had to get off _now_.

He started to swerve towards an upcoming off ramp, and L groaned in earnest. Misa peered around him again, her voice shrill. "Light he's waking up!"

"Shit, well then get the bag safe, I still have the gun-"

L's eyes opened, and he saw the car merging, took in the police lights, and seemed to understand what Light was trying to do in a millisecond. Whipping up his left knee, his foot connected with the steering wheel before Light could respond and the car swerved away from the off ramp at the last possible second, so close it shuddered as it grazed the metal divider.

"Fuc-" Light grabbed L's foot and ripped it off the wheel and then smashed L in the face as hard as he could. L, yelping, responded by shoving his body weight against Light.

"Misa, stop him-"

"I'm trying! I can't, he's too strong-" Misa grabbed onto L and tried to haul him backwards. She somewhat succeeded, and Light realized that the road in front of him was largely becoming empty, but that the cars pursuing him with flashing lights and blaring sirens were increasing in number. Escape, how could he escape? Could he kill Misa? Would that do anything? Kill L, he could kill L…take L hostage? On what conditions? Kill the director, kill the investigators, how would that help-

"Light!" Misa's voice was pleading and terrified, and begging for assurance. He ignored it.

He had to think..."Misa, if I pull over, give me the Death Notes, and I'll use the gun to pull on L...no wait, you keep the Death Notes, wait..."

L had near passed out again, probably from blood loss, which was a relief. "Misa, turn on the radio, find coverage."

Misa did so, and after switching a few channels, the smooth voice of a female news reporter greeted them.

"_We have a report that there is a car chase occurring on Route 35 heading north. The suspect is in a small beige car. All off-ramps and onramps on the northbound lane near Exit 78 are being blocked off and all drivers are being told to get off the main road to escape danger. The report is that the driver is a young male convict. He may have a passenger, though it is unknown at the time if that passenger is an accomplice or a hostage."_

Light accelerated to 90 mph and swerved angrily around a slower driver. The band of police cars followed steadily at a 100 feet.

"_This just in! The police have reported that the driver of the car may be related to Kira. All drivers are ordered to get off the road immediately and cover their faces. If Kira can see your face, you are in immediate danger. Repeat, the police have announced that-"_

_"_Turn it off," he ordered Misa, gritting his teeth. He was trapped. There was no way out. He needed a plan...

L took that moment to slump listlessly sideways, his head resting on Misa's surprised shoulder. The movement sparked an idea.

"Misa, if we stop, I'm going to use the gun to hold Ryuzaki as a hostage. Do you understand?" He assumed Misa was nodding. "Then, when we they start trying to negotiate, I'm going to threaten to kill the investigation team. I'll use Matsuda as an example, and then we'll manipulate my father to get passage to safety. Misa! Your job is to write the names in the Death Note. I'll hold the gun. Do you understand."

"Light, I'm scared! I'm scared for you! What's going to happ-"

"I'm tired of you, Kira. Die!" This time L gathered enough energy to fling himself full onto Light and the wheel. The car swerved wildly as Light yelled out and tried to keep control, and he could barely hear Misa's screaming.

Light tried to hit the breaks, but L slammed him hard with his skull, and the next thing he knew the car was starting to skid; he could feel the gravity begin to pull him forward and sideways. He managed to pull the wheel and control the skid, slightly, but the body on his right continued to impede; he got it down to 50 mph, then 40, then 30 mph, all while Misa screamed with every ounce of anger and terror in her body.

Then there was smashing, a horrible ripping sound of screeching metal and horns and screams, and then pain, heat; he felt like he was in the wash cycle from hell.

* * *

Chief Yagami felt like the crash happened in slow motion. From his position in the lead cop car, he saw the car begin once again to swerve erratically, and then the skid, and then the shout on the radio telling all police cars to slow down. The brake lights on the beige car lit up, to his relief. Finally the car had slowed significantly, but just when he was hoping for the best, it suddenly swerved and sideswiped a car in the slow lane. The small beige car lifted up in the air, spun, and crashed along the pavement for a hundred feet, metal twisting and flying away in all directions.

The cop cars all applied their breaks and he could hear the sound of rubber on asphalt. As the wrecked car finally settled on the cement, the police cars surrounded it at a safe distance.

He slammed open the car door and sprinted out, not bothering to cover his face. Matsuda yelled something after him, but he ignored it.

The car was burning, and he could hear the crackle of overheated metal; it wouldn't be long before the gas tank blew completely. The car was twisted on its side, but crushed almost beyond being able to tell what was up and what was down. As he neared the car, he heard screaming. A figure...no, Misa, bloody and disheveled, had been thrown from the car and was lying some fifteen feet away. Yagami looked back and motioned for Matsuda and Aizawa, who were sprinting to catch up with him. They ran to her side and grabbed her by her arms.

"Light!" She was shrieking hysterically. "Light! Where are you! Light!" Yagami glimpsed her trying to struggle out of the grasp of her captors, and then he reached the wreckage.

The front window was in shards, and he had to kneel down near the incredible heat to see inside...and there was his son, Light Yagami, Kira, pinned upside down behind the steering wheel with blood streaming down his face. "Light!" He could barely see his son, much less tell how trapped he was. He heard another swell in the sound of burning, and knew he only had a short period of time to get him out...just enough...he reached in and began pulling at Light's shirt, seeing if he could dislodge him. "Light? Light, wake up!"

Light's eyes amazingly cracked open at the order, and took in first his father, then the situation. They widened in sheer panic. "Dad! Get me out!"

"I am, just hold on!" He was trying to pull Light down, when something else in the smoke arrested his vision...a glimpse of white cotton shirt...

L. Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki was in the car.

Yagami's soul dropped. His son...Kira...his son was Kira, the criminal, he was rescuing Kira...but Ryuzaki needed rescuing as well, and there was no time. On a sudden decision, he crawled slightly forward and stretched his arm to snag the dirty cotton on Ryuzaki's shoulder. He started tugging, when he was stopped by his son's angry voice.

"No! Dad, leave him! Leave him!" Looking into his son's bloody face, he realized that he was finally face to face with Kira. He stared back, and in that moment a world passed between the father and son, and in that moment, the decision was made, and he was bypassing Light, lunging forward and yanking Ryuzaki's body out of the wreck with as much strength as possible.

"No! Father!" Light's face whipped into an elemental rage. "Get me out! Get me _out of here!_ I can kill you! I'll kill you if you don't!"

Ryuzaki was actually not pinned, and Light could only watch helplessly as the body was pulled out instead of him. Ryuzaki's eyes opened and made blurry contact with Light's as they passed.

There was talking and shouting, and as Yagami pulled L out and across the gray asphalt, Aizawa and Mogi and a third masked police officer frantically began trying to get in the cramped space that the director had occupied. Light was still bloodied and upside down, but Mogi started extracting him with brute force. He screamed in agony when they finally yanked him from his pinned position, but then he was out and being dragged away and a just moment later the car went up in a roar of flame and heat, almost burning their backs.

* * *

Yagami managed to drag Ryuzaki's semi-conscious form a good thirty feet from the wreckage, and several masked police officers ran up to help. When they skidded to a halt before coming to close, it took Yagami a moment to realize what was wrong.

"It's alright! He's not Kira! There's no danger!" With that assurance they jumped to help him support L's weight, and Yagami found his handcuff keys and quickly undid L's hands. As the cuffs came undone Yagami noticed that L's wrists were worn raw and bloody, and the white fabric had congealed onto the wounds. "Ryuzaki? Ryuzaki!" He forced Ryuzaki's blurry eyes to make contact with his own. "Stay with us, alright? We need you."

L managed a serious nod, to Yagami's amazement. Soichiro gave the masked police officer a stern look. "Take care of him."

Then he turned back to the bloody screaming mess on the concrete that was his son.

At that moment, Aizawa was struggling to control the thrashing figure of Light, whom he and Mogi were still trying to drag farther from the car. Aizawa finally decided that not only was the struggle ridiculous, it was potentially dangerous. "Cuff his hands!" He shouted to Mogi, who obediently reached for his belt.

Light seemed to comprehend and began thrashing more frantically. "Let me go! I'll kill all of you if you touch me! You hear me Aizawa! You're dead! Dead!"

Aizawa couldn't help a surge of panic, but Light had no notebook and there was nothing else that Light could use to kill him. With hands bound he would be harmless, and that feeling gave him confidence. The other police waiting to be of aid on the sidelines didn't seem to have his confidence. Upon overhearing the threats, they began turning their masked heads in quick motions and backing farther away.

Mogi pushed Light to the ground on his stomach, hands behind him. Light screamed. "You bastard! My arm is broken, you bastard, don't cuff me-" His face pinched up in agony. "Argh! My arm, let my arm go-"

"Let the cuffs off," Chief Yagami's voice said behind them, and Aizawa looked up to see Soichiro, his face sooty and bedraggled. He quickly took his own set of keys out and complied.

"Aizawa, go take care of Ryuzaki."

"Ryuzaki? Is he al- yes, sir!" Aizawa saluted and hurried to let Yagami take his place. He cast one befuddled look back at the chief, before looking around for his charge. Only three other cop cars had been able to join them on the road, the others busy attending to the correlating accidents and blocking off onramps. He could hear an ambulance approaching somewhere in the distance. When Ryuzaki came into sight, he hoped it would be soon enough.

Two of the cops, both Ide's people, had laid Ryuzaki on the ground, and the gangly detective was staring at the sky with his eyes glassy and vacant in pain or shock or whatever was going through his mind.

"Ryuzaki..." Aizawa knelt down quickly at the youth's side, looking him over in shock. The white shirt was scarcely white anymore, it was so covered in soot, dirt, and most prominently, blood. The pale face was blood-covered and bruised. Recently removed handcuffs, also bloody, lay on the ground nearby.

"Ryuzaki!" Suddenly scared, Aizawa grabbed him by the arm and shook it urgently, hoping to make him to respond or make eye contact. "Ryuzaki, tell us where you're injured - it will help us take care of you. Can you hear me?" There was yelling in the background, but he forced Light's and Misa's voices out of his mind. His job was to keep Ryuzaki alive.

"He has a bullet wound in his right hip, boss; I can't tell how bad, though. But I think it just hit the bone, no organs."

Aizawa looked down and noticed the wound right above Ryuzaki's loose jeans. It was undoubtedly a bullet wound…_how the hell did he get shot? _"Get a bandage on it, we'll clean it later." When the two cops began ripping bandages off a roll and began putting pressure on the wound, L's face seized in pain and he finally seemed to see Aizawa.

"Aizawa-"

"Right here, Ryuzaki, we have you." Even though L's physical state was appalling, Aizawa gave him comforting smile. "You're going to be fine."

L looked up at Aizawa with a smile that communicated trust, and Aizawa suddenly felt his throat clog and his eyes water. "Ryuzaki…" God, he couldn't believe that L was actually alive…he suddenly didn't know how to express his emotion, so he bit his lip and settled with just putting his hand on L's shoulder. He kept it there as Ryuzaki gritted his teeth through the bandaging process. When it was done, the detective rolled slightly onto his side, cradling one arm protectively and propping himself up on an elbow. He blinked and seemed to try hard to focus on Aizawa. "Kira?"

"He's back with Chief Yagami and Ide and Mogi." Aizawa felt a sudden panic. "Is there something we should know?"

L graced him with a hint of impatience. "No."

The unfocused eyes and the rigid muscles made it clear that L was in great pain, but when the policeman pulled a syringe out of the med kit to apply pain medication, L adamantly told him no. The policeman glared. "Don't be stubborn, kid, it's standard procedure-"

"It blurs the ability to think rationally." Suddenly Ryuzaki was struggling to sit up, much to the policeman's disapproval. "Take me back to Kira."

The other policewoman shook her head in indignation. "Are you insane? Look, young man, I understand wanting to see your friend, but-"

"Shut up," Aizawa snapped. "We do what he wants." Both the policemen and Ryuzaki looked at him with surprise. But Aizawa had made up his mind. For too long they had been doubting L, but no more. If L wanted to see Kira, Aizawa was going to help him.

Ryuzaki accepted his help in trying to get upright with a minimum of pain, but it they weren't completely successful, and Ryuzaki had to hide his face under a mass of shaggy hair. But then Aizawa was supporting the limping frame, and looked expectantly to the other policeman for help. They both exchanged a look before one shook his helmet. "I'm not going near Kira if I don't have to. I have children at home."

"Fine," Aizawa spat. He looked to the other policeman who seemed to hesitate. She exchanged another look with her fellow, before moving forward to take L's arm.

He and the female cop managed to half carry, half support L through the growing throng of police cars. At one point, a masked medic nervously ran up and told them that the ambulance was waiting a couple hundred feet away, but they sent the woman back and continued on. A news helicopter was now flying overhead and everyone had masks, except for L and the other investigators.

They pushed through a final line of police and found a strange sight. Light hadn't moved from his position fifty feet from the flaming car, and Yagami and Mogi and Ide were by his side, but no one else was within a fifty-foot radius of the man.

Aizawa growled. Even though they had been told that Kira needed a face to kill, and even after catching the third Kira without casualties, the police had spooked after the third Kira died on location. Kira had once again taken on a superstitious, mythic quality, and none of the police would approach, much less the medics.

As they entered the dead zone, Aizawa motioned for the policewoman to leave Ryuzaki up to him. She hesitated but accepted, relieved not to have to go any closer. Aizawa decided it was probably better if no one saw what was going to be said amongst them anyways.

* * *

Light could hear Misa screaming for him in somewhere in the distance. _If I can just get to her, she must have the notebooks, she must. Then we could take out the investigators and find a way to take out the cops and maybe we could get to the bushes underneath the highway-_

Mogi had an iron hard grip on his arm, the one not burning with pain, and every time he tried to stand up one of his legs would mysteriously buckle and the hands would push him down again. He could twist up and see his captors; Mogi, his father, a cop he recognized as Ide something, and Ryuk.

His father just stood there and looked down at him, judging him. He hated that. His own father. He felt a snarl well up from his core and take control of his face.

"How could you?" He demanded. His father looked stricken. "I'm your son! Your goddamn SON!" He tried to thrash out of Mogi's grip, only stopping when the pain made his muscles weaken again. He whipped his head back to Soichiro. "You don't see what you're stopping, father! A perfect world, without crime, or hate! We could have lived in it. You should have tried to understand. You're ruining everything!"

"Light…"

Why couldn't his father understand? "This world is rotten; I would have fixed it. I-"

He froze as another face floated into view. It was _him_. Ryuzaki's battered and bloody, exhausted, and grim visage stared straight at him without blinking, before the freak collapsed into a crouch close by. They stared at each other in silence, ignoring the noise of the chopper and police cars and the burning wreck. All they could hear was Light's ragged hyperventilating.

"You-" Light tried to prop himself more upright, and Mogi let him. Aizawa's protective posture next to Ryuzaki somehow made him angrier. "I beat you. I had a checkmate. How..."

"Kira, you should know before the end. I am the only L." Ryuzaki stared at him like a reptile.

"The only L." The horrible truth came crashing down on Light.

_It was a bluff. All along, it was just a flimsy bluff. And I fell for it, hook, line, and sinker._ "Only one L...it was trick…."

L nodded.

The humiliation that washed over him was worse than any of the pain in his body. He had been made a fool of not just by Ryuzaki, but by everyone. All the others had known there was only one L. His father had known. Stupid-as-a-rock Matsuda had known. They were mocking him. The media would publicize the case and the whole world would know how he'd been tricked; how he'd won, and then had immaturely second-guessed himself, had forfeited his position as God. Suddenly L's battered face represented a world of laughter, represented everything that Light feared and hated. He had never felt hate so fully. As it replaced the humiliation, he lunged at Ryuzaki.

* * *

Yagami watched the slow flow of hate that crinkled his son's eyes and tightened the muscles. His son wasn't just Kira...he was a devil. Then like a snake uncoiling, before Mogi or he or anyone had a chance to respond, Light was on L and had him by the throat.

"Light!" He hardly realized what he was doing, but in an instant he had grabbed Light's thin wrists and wrenched him off L. He was pushing what had been his son back on the concrete, pinning his hands to the cement and his knee on his stomach. "Light, son, STOP! Stop this! Please, god, who are you!" He realized that he was screaming as well, and that his face was wet with something other than sweat. "You're my son! This isn't you! Please!"

"I hate you! I hate all of you!" The face spat at him in animal panic. "I would have made your world perfect! Why didn't you understand? You're stopping me! I should kill you! I'll kill all of you!" A chill ran up Yagami's spine as he son's face changed and laughter bubbled up from some evil place. "You're so _stupid_, father." Light's chuckling body relaxed in his grip, which somehow horrified Soichiro further. He released his son and stood to stagger a little away.

Aizawa and Mogi had managed to protectively move L fully out of Light's reach. Both looked furious and vengeful, and Yagami had no doubt that if Light tried to touch Ryuzaki again, he would regret it.

Light continued to laugh and curled almost into a shaking fetal position. His face and hands were obscured, but he seemed to be talking to himself. Yagami heard footsteps, and glanced sideways to see Matsuda running to join them. His wide and friendly eyes bugged out at the state of Light. "Oh God..." He took a step forward, but Yagami held him back with a hand.

"Let him be. He's not bleeding seriously. Maybe...maybe he'll calm down..."

Matsuda suddenly looked anxious. "No wait, what's he doing with his hands? Can't you see them moving?" And Matsuda hurried around Light to peer at him from another angle. "He's writing!" Quick as lightning, Matsuda had his gun in his hand and had fired, and the three other investigators had their own weapons confusedly out as well, not sure who to aim at. Light screamed an obscenity and rolled over, clutching his left hand.

"Matsuda! What-" But then Yagami saw the shards of his son's watch on the pavement.

Matsuda caught his eye. "He had something in his watch, I think he was writing a name!" As Light rolled onto his side away from Matsuda, he leapt forward and snatched a tiny scrap of paper up. "It says...chief, it's the first part of your name-Agh!" They all jerked in surprise as Matsuda lifted his gun again in panic and pointed it at blank air. "It's a different Shinigami! L, what is it?"

"His name is Ryuk," L spoke softly from his spot on the pavement. Aizawa had reappeared by Light and was hurriedly searching pockets, but L shook his head. "Aizawa, don't bother. That was his only note. He had it since before his imprisonment."

Yagami decided to trust L's word, and lowered his gun. Light heard as well and bristled, beginning to cast mad eyes around him. "Misa! Misa, where are you!"

L stiffened as he detected a threat. "The Death Notes - Matsuda! Where are they? There are two of them!"

Matsuda looked panicked. "I just found the one, the old one we had. But Misa's bag...uh…there was another book in Misa's bag, I guess that was probably the other note! But don't worry, I put all of it in a safe box. They're safe, Misa can't touch them."

"Ryuk!"

Yagami tried to quell his horror as Light began laughing hysterically again. He knew he should be taking action, but all he could do was watch what had been his son in sick fascination. "Ryuk, you can help me! Will you do it? All of them, write all of them down!"

Needing to see who Light was talking to, Yagami snatched the tiny scrap of paper from Matsuda, with Aizawa, Mogi, and Ide following his action immediately. Instantly he heard strange laughter and was looking up at the hunched and horrific image of a Reaper. Ryuk.

"Ryuk!" He was again captivated by his son, who was twisting and laughing and looking up at the monster with eager eyes. "Can you kill them? All of them! Write their names! It will be fun, Ryuk, just like old times! It's not over yet!" Light stopped to cough. "Hahahaha..."

"Oh my god..." Aizawa's verbalized their panic as the strange God took out a black book, opened it, and held a pen in its claws.

"It will never end, Ryuk! I'll keep you entertained. I'll keep killing the scum...and apples, Ryuk, real apples! Any type!" Ryuk practically cackled in what seemed like gleeful agreement with Light.

"Please! Don't!" Matsuda rushed forward and tried desperately to appeal to the Shinigami, but Ryuk, ignoring all else, bent his crooked head down and began writing. Matsuda gave a small shout of terror and covered his head in instinct.

"My own son..." Yagami felt he could do nothing, except stay where he was. He couldn't comprehend what was happening.

* * *

Light laughed in triumph when Ryuk obeyed him and began writing. He could even control a free Shinigami. The power was breathtaking, and redeeming. He propped himself up on his uninjured arm and looked to Ryuk eagerly. "Well?"

Ryuk's head moved in silent laughter as he showed him the page. Light saw the kanji, and froze. It couldn't be...Light Yagami was written clearly in the middle of the page. "Ryuk..." He looked up to the face he had grown so accustomed to, and that he had even grown to trust. This...this didn't make sense. "But Ryuk...what…"

And finally, the only real question. "Why?"

His only friend laughed at him. "Light, I'm just doing what you like to do. I thought you would appreciate it."

"But I'm..."

"You're a criminal." Ryuk brought his gaping grin closer. "And you like criminals dead."

"But-agh!" Light felt his chest and arm suddenly seize up, and he grabbed at the horrible pressure on his heart. God, fuck, it _hurt_…he could see flashing spots, and he twisted in agony, the pain making it hard to breath. He heard his father yelling his name, but that wouldn't help him. Ryuk…with a massive effort to control his body, he rolled his eyes back to the Shinigami. "But...you're bored! I can do more, Ryuk!" He tried to crawl closer to the figure. "I can...akh...he...I can entertain you..."

"Criminals are boring." Ryuk shrugged. "Goodbye, Light. Thanks for the years."

The pain hit Light again and he screamed, his pain-bleared eyes trying to find someone, anyone, to help him. L. There was Ryuzaki, looking at him with those dark-rimmed eyes. He reached for the man beseechingly.

"Ryuzaki...help...write...change my death, write my name..." He grabbed Ryuzaki's ankle like a drowning man. _Don't let me die…_but to Light's growing terror, Ryuzaki didn't do anything. He just shook his head.

"_Help me!" _Light screamed, his voice hoarse, and both hands now gripping L's ankle. "You bastard, help me! Please!" But as he desperately stared into that inscrutable face, suddenly the memory of two men in the back seat of a car flashed through his mind. _I want him to beg me to save him._

"Kira," L spoke. "Who would have thought. A Shinigami having a greater sense of Justice than a human."

Light couldn't break away from that incriminating gaze, as understanding of what he had done settled in with his terror. This was the price. He was going to die alone. The pain wracked his body again and he lost control, and knew that he was probably screaming in the immensity of the pain. The blackness was coming to take away the light, and he didn't know how to escape it…he needed to escape it, but they weren't going to help him…they were going to let him die…

He heard sobs of terror, probably from his own throat. It wasn't supposed to end this way. The sudden rage he felt for being abandoned was overwhelmed by fear as the blackness came. And as that flashing tunnel of dark swallowed him, he saw one last glimpse of a Shinigami's grotesque face laughing at him, and though he reached for it, it had already moved on. It had already forgotten him.

* * *

Mr. Yagami stood and stepped back when Light's body stopped twitching. Bloodshot eyes were still staring at the sky in an expression of terror, and blood and foam were smeared around the contorted mouth. Ryuzaki too pulled his foot free from Light's hand and crawled backwards.

Everyone stood rigid as they stared at the body, unable to look away. The silence settled around them like a physical pressure, and though the breeze rustled strands of Light's wet hair, that was the only part of him that moved.

L broke the silence, and looked to Aizawa. "His eyes-"

Aizawa nodded and sprang forward, his face damp and taut, and bent down over the body to close Light's eyelids.

A shout from somewhere behind them caught their attention, and they looked towards it in time to miss Aizawa hiding a sob. The disruption moved closer, and then Misa burst through the surprised police officers to careen towards them. How she was managing to sprint with her legs bloody with abrasions, none of them knew.

"Light! Light!" Misa had dodged several grown men and collapsed onto the body, sobbing. "Light-chan? Light, wake up! _Light!_" The scream was bloodcurdling. She started to shake the body frantically. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up-" She shook for some time, her eyes growing deader, and eventually she was just shaking him gently and staring as if in shock. "Why aren't you moving, Light. Why aren't you answering me. You're not..." Her arms went limp and the body fell back to the ground, Light's head lolling to side. "They killed you." She suddenly glanced up, her expression for all the world as dead as someone experiencing shell shock. Her gaze settled directly on Soichiro Yagami. "You killed him."

Soichiro couldn't bring himself to answer.

Misa's expression contorted into one of rage. "You killed him, didn't you? _Didn't you? Your own son! _ You should have killed_ me instead!_" She flung herself at Soichiro, and in the following hubbub of flailing limbs and shouting, she pulled free again and flung herself sobbing back onto Light's body. "No, Light, I love you so much. It should have been me, I would have died for you, you believe me, right? I'm so sorry, Kira. Please forgive me. I didn't mean to do it, I promise. Remember how I forgot the cellphone? Oh, Light, if I hadn't been so stupid…it's all my fault, it's all me, please come back-"

As she continued her near incoherent rant, suddenly Yagami couldn't take it anymore. He turned his back to Misa and the body of his son. It sickened him. He too had loved that corpse. That she could have loved this side of him, the _Kira_ side, made him sick to the stomach. Hadn't she seen that parting look? The hate? His son had turned into the very thing he tried to protect the world from; oppression, violence, and cruelty. He killed innocent, vibrant, loving people for his own twisted reasons. He had been a devil.

He looked out at the veritable sea of police cars. The men were all standing at a distance…out of fear of their leader's son. The shame started to settle on his shoulders, so heavy it was almost unbearable. He looked at tinted masks and helmets and a sudden desire became very clear. Seppuku. It was the only honorable thing he could think of. With this..._thing_, behind him, he couldn't hide. What was left? His wife and his daughter. He could never tell them. He had to protect them from this shame…

He felt a very light touch on his pant leg, and looked down to see Ryuzaki with his bloody legs tucked underneath him. "Mr. Yagami..." His throat choked up and he looked away, but Ryuzaki pulled more urgently. "Yagami, look." Ryuzaki pointed back to the crowd of police. One by one, they were removing their helmets, revealing the faces of strangers and of those he knew and trusted. They must have realized, then, that his son's corpse no longer posed a threat.

But then in the forefront he saw Ide stand at attention and bring his hand into a salute. Then another saluted, and another, and the movement spread quickly to every individual in the entire group. Yagami looked back and forth at them in confusion. "I don't understand..."

"For your bravery. You risked your life to capture the enemy, Yagami."

"I created the enemy. He's my own son."

He lowered his head in an admission of shame, refusing to acknowledge the salute. Yes, he had captured Kira, but…he looked back to Light. A sobbing Misa had been led away by a near-sobs Matsuda, and all that was left was the strangely contorted body. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the police had broken the salute and were once again in movement. But still they left a wide space around them. Whether out of fear or respect, Yagami didn't care.

"Light-chan..." Yagami choked back a sudden sob and covered his mouth with his hand. His little boy. Aizawa and Mogi were still standing with heads bowed.

He averted his eyes as Light's body was covered in a white cloth.

"Ryuzaki?" At the sound of the query, he saw Aizawa break out of his trance and look down anxiously.

"Hm?" Yagami looked down to his right and saw what had alarmed Aizawa. L had hunched in on himself and was shaking like a leaf. Aizawa hurred to the young man's side and put his hand on his shoulder, asking him if he was alright.

Suddenly a new feeling of guilt came over Soichiro, but of an altogether different sort. Here he was bemoaning his own state, and he'd completely forgotten about the wellbeing of L. As L muttered something to Aizawa, Yagami took off his jacket and as he knelt down, draped it protectively over the his shoulders.

L blinked at him in unfocused surprise. "I…thank you, Yagami-san."

"I need to thank you, L. We need to get you to a hospital. Aizawa, how was he physically when you were with the medics?"

"Bullet wound looks like the worst of it, but we didn't check for internal injuries or shock." Aizawa was looking horribly guilty. "We didn't even get him on painkillers-"

"I didn't need them," L supplied, clearly fighting against looking weak in front of them. "I can hold out for some time. Bleeding has stopped, and I'm not going to fall over dead right away." L turned his eyes to Yagami. "By the way, you do realize that salute was for you. You deserved it, Yagami-san. You captured Kira."

Soichiro felt his jaw clench. "You know that salute should have been for you. Compared to you, I've done nothing. And don't forget this is my fault from the beginning."

"Because he was your son?" Ryuzaki shook his head. "Kira was not your son. He was a creation of the Death Note. Who knows. If I had found the Death Note, who's to say I would have acted differently?"

Yagami had to let that sink in, and since he couldn't claim that Ryuzaki was wrong, he didn't know how to answer.

Ryuzaki gave him a smile, though it looked strange, as if smiling wasn't something he was used to doing. "It's the truth, Yagami. You don't need to waste time blaming yourself." He was silent for a moment and turned his face away. "I am assuming that Watari is dead as well, then?"

"...yes. Watari is dead."

The back of L's head moved in a nod. "Ah. I was right. That was a grave mistake on my part. I'm still not sure how I could have stopped it...but I alone am at fault for that one."

"Ryuzaki, don't be a hyp-"

"Aizawa!" Ryuzaki rather quickly changed the subject, and despite his weak physical state, his voice had regained the soft firmness they knew so well. "There are several casualties that need to be found. The first is Kenji Mizoguchi; he's in a metallic purple Suzuki car headed west, license plate 89C3-" Ryuzaki listed off several victims in perfect detail, and Aizawa hurriedly scribbled them into a notebook.

"Name Matsuyama Ken'ichi, he's with ..." L trailed off, and Yagami, who had stood to signal a medic, looked down in alarm. "He's with..." Aizawa stopped writing when L swayed and then began tilting to his left.

"Ryuzaki!" Yagami crouched immediately and grabbed L before he could fall completely. L was trying very hard to stay conscious, and mumbling.

"Ken'ichi, with...can't remember the name..."

"I got him." Yagami gaped as Mogi bent down and with just a grunt, hoisted L's limp form up to his arms. They began making their way quickly to the nearest ambulance, and though Yagami made efforts to help, Mogi just shrugged them off. L's head leaned forward onto Mogi's broad chest and one of his arms flopped loosely off to the side. Yagami again couldn't help thinking he looked remarkably like an overgrown child.

A medic hurried up to assess the situation, before turning to Yagami. "Sir, we're going to give him a sedative for the trip to the hospital."

Yagami nodded. The medics all had no idea that Ryuzaki was actually the leader of the Kira Investigation, and therefore didn't think of asking the still-conscious Ryuzaki for permission for his care; to them, he was just one of Light's school friends who had been pulled into a situation beyond his control.

The medic returned with a stretcher, and Mogi carefully lowered L onto it. Aizawa noticed that L looked ever so slightly scared, though like the pain, he was trying to hide it. The medic began rolling L towards the ambulance, and Aizawa suddenly blurted out the question he had been burning to ask.

"Ryuzaki! How come we're not dead? When Watari died, we thought we were all goners! Why weren't we written in the book?" He was trotting along beside the stretcher, and a sudden horrified expression came over his face. "We weren't, were we? I mean, we aren't...written down..."

Ryuzaki shook his head. "No. He was going to, but..."

Aizawa waited anxiously for more, but Ryuzaki seemed hesitant to answer, almost as if he were embarrassed. "I...when he was...in the car. Kept him from doing it..."

Yagami looked confused. "How? You were hand-cuffed!"

Mogi was anxious for an answer as well. "Did you outsmart him somehow? What did you tell him?"

L's eyes were starting to close as the sedative from the IV began to enter his bloodstream. His tongue was thick and he barely seemed to get the words out. "No tricks...used physical...interference..."

The medics lifted Ryuzaki into the ambulance, and all three men stared wide-eyed in disbelief. The two rear doors closed, and still they stared. Mogi finally spoke what they all were thinking. "When the car started swerving...do you think that was Ryuzaki?"

Aizawa nodded numbly. "That's the only explanation I can think of."

The ambulance was starting to roll forward, and Yagami came to a decision. "Aizawa, go with him. I want one of us there at all times, so he's not alone when he wakes up."

"Yes sir! Absolutely, Chief!" Aizawa saluted and ran quickly to the moving vehicle, springing up on the bumper and pounding until they slowed and let him in.

As the ambulance threaded away through the mess on the wide road, Yagami looked to Mogi with bright eyes. "We'll finish up here, and then we're all going to the hospital to be with him."

A big smile slowly spread across Mogi's face. "Yes sir. I understand. I'll go get Matsuda. He doesn't need to be with Misa anyway."

"No, he doesn't. She's shown her true colors. Matsuda is with us."

Mogi nodded. "Your son?"

Yagami's face darkened, but he didn't lose his firmness. "My son is dead. I'll mourn in time, but for now the living demand our full attention. And Mogi..." He put his hand on the big man's shoulder. "L may have support that we don't know about, but it could be that he wakes up alone in that hospital. I know that to him, we may be rather uninteresting, unintelligent comrades...but we'll do our best."


	6. Epilogue

**DEATH NOTE: UNSPOKEN RULES**

**Part 6: Epilogue**

Note: _A__ heartfelt thanks to my more recent reviewers, like Satori-chan. You made my day!_

* * *

"This is Channel 10 news, reporting live from outside Ozu Hospital, where the survivors from Route 35 are being cared for. There has been no further news as to whether Kira was involved, and the Chief of Police is refusing to give any information on the grounds that it's an ongoing...excuse me, I'm getting a report...is seems the head of the Kira Investigation is entering the hospital! Chief Yagami! Is it true that the driver is suspected of being Kira? Sir, and what's his connection to your son? Wait, Chief – shit, someone get this cameraman out of my way-"

In the safety of the waiting room, Aizawa watched the television in bemusement. The Chief really should have entered the hospital through a back door, instead of slogging through the horde of reporters and civilians outside.

He stood, stretched, and hit the mute button. He cursed when the head nurse spotted him from a distance and once again moved in for the offensive.

"Mr. Aizawa?" He braced himself as the thirty-something woman bustled his direction. She had the tenacity of a bulldog. "Sir, I'm still waiting on those medical records."

"I've told you several times, miss. He doesn't have any."

"I refuse to believe it, sir. I don't care if you're the police, at least give us his real name so we can look in the databases. Twice already we've had to risk administering medications that might cause an allergic reaction-"

"Well he hasn't died yet, so I don't see how he can be allergic- Chief!" Aizawa sagged in relief when Soichiro strode into view.

The Chief looked equally relieved to see him. The strength he'd exuded on television had been replaced with utter exhaustion. "Aizawa, it's good to see your face. How's Ryuzaki?"

The nurse cleared her throat meaningfully, and Soichiro finally seemed to notice her. He clearly didn't appreciate the interruption. "Yes?"

"Are you family, sir?" Aizawa knew the nurse was about to interrogate, and he also knew it could end badly, so he tried to forestall it.

"He's police, ma'am. And he's my superior. Look, we appreciate your concern, but-"

"Ah, so you're the man in charge of this patient! Sir, I demand that you release his name to us. Even if he is a criminal, or under government jurisdiction, it's wrong to not pull out his medical records-"

"Ma'am, if we had information that would help in his care, you would have it. But we don't. And he's _not_ a criminal. How is he?"

The nurse stared at Soichiro as if measuring him up, and to Aizawa's jaw-dropping amazement, yielded to him with a slight bow. "Fine sir. He came out of surgery fine, and he's in a stable condition. We've taken him off sedatives and on a medium dose of morphine, so he'll be slightly out-of-it when he regains consciousness. He's not to be agitated, do you understand? He's showing signs of exhaustion from even before the accident. Do you know how he came to be shot?"

"No."

"Ah."

Soichiro impatiently signed a document on her clipboard. "He should be waking in an hour or two. Because of his wounds, don't do anything to antagonize him, and don't ask him to talk too much. He's recovering from exhaustion."

With one final look, she turned away and left Yagami and Aizawa to enter the L's room. The white daylight was streaming through the window, and L lay unconscious in the bed at the center. Off to one side, Matsuda was propped uncomfortably in one of the two guest chairs, and a slight snore signified that he'd finally succumbed to exhaustion.

Yagami looked down at the young man in a sort of numb horror. Ryuzaki looked better than he had when he'd last seen him, of course, but in a way, to see him like this was worse. L's face was pale as always, but blood loss had turned it ghostly white, and there was a large bandage on his head, and smaller bandages on minor cuts throughout his face. Ugly bruises covered his check, and Yagami swore he could see the bruised shapes of fingerprints on his neck. His eyes were even more heavily shadowed than normal. His uncovered arms were in just as bad shape, his left arm with a large bandage on it.

Aizawa softly closed the door, and slipped around him to poke Matsuda until the young man grunted in his sleep. "Matsuda, wake up, the Chief is here-"

"Have to find the tea…ran out of tea-wha?" Matsuda blinked blearily, and after giving his assailant an unhappy glare, noticed Soichiro standing in the room. "Chief! Oh, uh, here, do you want to sit-"

Soichiro didn't turn away from looking at L, so Matsuda took the initiative and got out of the chair anyways. "Wow, what time is it? Oh, feels good to stretch! Ryuzaki hasn't so much as moved a finger, he's really out of it-"

"How would you know? You were asleep," Aizawa scoffed.

"I just dozed off for a few minutes, I've been awake all the rest." Matsuda looked hurt, and moved back quickly when Soichiro walked by and flumped into the chair by L's bedside. Not looking up from L's face, the haggard man leaned his elbows on his knees and ran his hand through his hair.

Aizawa seated himself in the chair next to him. He'd grown accustomed to L's appearance over the last day by being with him constantly, but he understood what was going through the Chief's mind.

* * *

"Ryuzaki? Ryuzaki, are you waking up?" With an incredible effort, L managed to open his heavy eyelids a crack, just enough to make out the blurry head of Matsuda inches from his face. _Matsuda? What's Matsuda doing here?_ As a huge sloppy smile spread across Matsuda's face, L tried to say something, but the energy was too much, or the drug too strong in his system. Matsuda didn't seem to mind, and just made up for it by babbling himself. "Ryuzaki! You're awake!." Aizawa's grinning visage was suddenly there as well. "We couldn't find your medical records, and I thought you would die from medicine allergies or something like that-"

"Let me call Mogi," Aizawa said, and disappeared from view. L found himself confused. It wasn't a state he was used to being in, and extremely disconcerting. What were they all doing here? Watari was dead, so he was supposed to be alone. Didn't they all have things to be doing?

His eyes were becoming clearer, and he blinked several times. Ah, that was it. They wanted to ask him about Light. A dead weight replaced the confusion.

"Ryuzaki." Chief Yagami's voice entered the room, strong and powerful, and in response to this new discovery, L tried to move his head sideways. Yagami's eyes were shining with the strange delight that had also been in Aizawa's and Matsuda's expressions.

_What are they so happy about?_ Nothing worth smiling over had happened recently, catching Kira or not, and they could hardly be looking forward to anything he could tell them. Yagami had just watched his son die horrifically at his feet...and it had been L's fault.

"Good to see you awake, Ryuzaki. You've been asleep for..." he checked his watch, "31 hours. It's 3:36 pm on Sunday." L just stared, not sure if his body would let him speak. He also didn't have anything to say. "Ryuzaki..." Yagami kept smiling, but also seemed at a loss for words.

Matsuda pulled a chair up to his superior, obviously trying to do it as least presumptuously as possible. "They say you should be able to sit up soon, once you wake up a bit." There was a moment of semi-awkward silence, until Matsuda's mouth formed an O and he began fishing around underneath the chair. "Aizawa bought you something, kept saying you wouldn't like hospital food."

L stared in complete confusion as Matsuda triumphantly held up a plastic convenience store bag. "Marshmallows! At least, I think that's what they are. He got some kind of cracker thing too-"

"Matsuda, don't take them out of the bag!" Aizawa hissed, and they all turned to see him looking into the room and covering the receiver to his cellphone. "If that nurse finds it she might confiscate it, just hide it back under the chair - wait, Mogi, are you still there? Just ask Ide to do it, he's got the manpower anyways-"

Aizawa was about to vacate the room again when the nurse suddenly crowded by him, surveying the room like a hawk and noticing first most that her patient was awake. "How are you feeling?" She walked around to the other side of the bed.

"I gauge my current operating capacity to be 25 percent," L mumbled, somewhat surprised that he could speak. The nurse looked at him in slight confusion, and Matsuda tried to hide a snicker.

The nurse replaced said confusion with a glowing smile. "Well, don't worry! We'll have you up to 100 percent in no time!"

L glared. He didn't like this woman. "The probability of that is less than 1 percent. Unless modern medicine has found a way to correlate irritating cheerfulness with the healing process."

After five more minutes of banter between an overwhelmed and irate L and the cheerful nurse, he was propped upright in a sitting position on the bed.

The nurse eventually figured out that he just wanted her to leave, and when she thankfully did Aizawa took her place. "Mogi should be here soon. He's finished analyzing the Death Notes. It's very helpful in finding victims' bodies; it says their exact behavior before death and everything."

L wondered if Mogi had matched his name to his death yet. If so, he would be the only one who knew.

Matsuda was looking at L with that expression that meant he was on to something. "Hey, Ryuzaki, I've been meaning to ask you. Do you just make those percentages up? Unless you're a computer, and could compute all the different outcomes..."

"I am indeed a computer, Matsuda. Your deductive skills continue to amaze me."

The gamut of expressions that crossed Matsuda's face should have been amusing, but L wasn't happy. He still wasn't sure why they were here trying to banter with him. He really wanted to be alone. The numbness in his body was being replaced with a steady ache, especially in his shoulder and hip, and he felt dead, depressed, and heartsick. Didn't they remember that he was responsible for everything that had just happened?

"Yagami," L spoke, not making eye contact. He realized his voice was soft, but he didn't have the strength to make it louder. "I assume that you're here to get the story on what happened after Kira left headquarters. If you will be patient, I can have a written report for you within 24 hours." He paused, trying to gather the energy to continue. "There's no information I have that is crucially important, and the case is solved, so-"

"Ryuzaki." L stopped at the interruption, and glanced over at Yagami from the corner of his eye. "Ryuzaki, we don't need you to tell us anything. In fact, it's the opposite."

Matsuda spoke up next. "We...well, we know how much you hate not knowing all the facts, so we thought that while you rested, you might have questions, or be curious about _our_ report."

For all his deductive abilities, L hadn't seen that coming. "I...you don't want the report now?"

"I'll go so far as to forbid it," Yagami intoned. "You're not fit to be telling stories right now. But you are a part of this investigation, and the head of our team, and we don't want to leave you out of the loop for a moment more than necessary."

As Soichiro talked, L was staring in distraction and slight wonder at the bandage on his left bicep. He wondered if any ink would stay in skin after if healed. It would be a fascinating tattoo of sorts. He remembered he wouldn't be alive long enough to see the scab heal, and gave up the idea in disappointment. One more interesting thing he'd never learn the outcome to. Might as well learn what _was_ available to him.

It was true that he was voraciously curious, and not knowing what had happened would bother him. And he was feeling much more awake, even with dull depression on his mind. "Yes, I'd appreciate that, Yagami."

Yagami nodded, looking pleased, and started the story.

* * *

"We had the location where Amane's cellphone had been answered to within five blocks, so while we were driving there, we called all the nearby motels, on the off chance that Light had checked in. A long shot, but it worked, and one of the managers described two customers who fit Light's and Amane's profiles. And more telling, he said one of his staff had reported a disturbance in their room, and had come back acting sort of funny. But we couldn't move in because we were still some distance away, and the local police needed face masks and tinted windows. You know this, I assume."

L nodded. "Somewhat. About the staff member, I did hear someone talking to Kira outside the room."

Yagami took the lead again. "And I fear I made a rash decision. I had the manager patch me through to the room phone, hoping that a bluff would convince him to surrender, and in doing so, save many lives, including ours. I suppose my action was really no different than Matsuda's." Matsuda, who had been studying his shoes, blinked at his superior, and Yagami's grudging acceptance of his disastrous rashness from earlier. "But it obviously didn't work, and I only succeeded in tipping him off. When we stormed the motel, we just found a corpse."

"Don't forget that bizarre pile of sand," Aizawa quipped.

"The sand was the remnant of Rem the Shinigami."

"What?" All of them gaped. Matsuda shook his head in stubborn disbelief. "But Rem was a God of Death."

L prepared himself for another tiring explanation, but Yagami saved him. "Wait for the report, Matsuda."

Matsuda nodded in acquiescence and Yagami continued. "We did a little detective work and figured out which car he'd stolen. The rest you know, Ryuzaki. Probably better than we do." He paused, trying not to show his concern when he noticed that under L's stoic façade, the young man's face was taut with exhaustion and pain. Yagami hoped they weren't wearing him out too much.

There was a knock at the door and the nurse cracked it open to peer inside. "Another visitor. Young man, if you're feeling at all tired, these men will give you a break at any time."

"I'm fine," Ryuzaki informed her. Trying to look more fine than he felt.

She stood aside and let Mogi enter. The big man looked unhappy and was breathing hard, and took in the room quickly. Upon seeing Ryuzaki, his face suddenly roiled with several complex layers of emotion. L felt a jolt of adrenaline in his stomach, as his mind ran through several negative scenarios for the expression. He nodded at the man. "Mogi."

"L." Mogi looked at him for a moment longer, before turning to the other investigators. "What did I miss?"

Aizawa shrugged. "Ryuzaki woke up. He tortured the nurse for bit, and we've been giving him an update on our side of the story. We just finished, actually."

Matsuda peered around Aizawa. "Any new information on the Death Notes?"

Mogi didn't say anything, just continued to breath heavily and stared strangely at Matsuda. Matsuda started to get uncomfortable. "Um, I'm guessing that's a no? Mogi?"

Mogi cast a look at L, who immediately understood. _It's the worse case scenario. Mogi found out. _

"Mogi..." L shook his head slightly, an action that made him discover a new ache on the back of his head. Was the morphine wearing off? He was suddenly exhausted again, and dreading the potential scene. "Not now…"

Yagami was losing his patience. "Mogi, what is it? Something's clearly wrong, and I'm not going to let you draw it out like this."

"What's wrong?" Matsuda anxiously began looking back and forth between parties. "Did I miss something?"

"Spit it out, Mogi." Aizawa said imperiously, crossing his arms.

Mogi shared one last look with L, before swallowing and averting his eyes to other the wall. Knowing he couldn't stop it, L looked down at his legs and brought his thumbnail to his teeth.

"It...L's name is written in the Death Note."

Complete silence settled on the room. It stretched out for what could have been a minute, or ten minutes. The tiny clack of a thumbnail being bitten broke the silence.

Yagami stood slowly, his eyes not moving an inch from Mogi. "Come again?"

"It's the truth." Mogi clenched his jaw and glanced at L out of the corner of his eye. "Ide went over the names early on to look for the victims, but he didn't recognize the name. He just assumed it was from earlier. And I was going over them this morning, and one matched the time, and it gave 23 days..."

Yagami turned to stare at L, and L suddenly felt nervous. He glanced at Yagami before averting his eyes again, and knew Soichiro's strobe-light gaze was taking in his bruises, his bandages, and whatever bad state his body was in. The tension increased until he was about to say something, when Yagami lurched forward and practically shoved Mogi to one side, slamming the door behind him with such raw force that it bounced open again. L jerked at the boom, and blinked back at the others. Matsuda was sitting down looking wobbly and in shock, while Aizawa continued staring into the middle distance. "I can't believe it..."

None of them looked at L as the new information continued to sink in.

Matsuda suddenly stood again, his hands clenched into fists, finally looking at the bed. "It's not fair! You got out! You don't deserve it, it's not supposed to-"

"I don't deserve it?" L couldn't take it anymore, and he sat up straighter and glared. "I deserve it as much as anyone deserves to die, Matsuda. You're all over-reacting. Probably a dozen people died in the last few days, and worse yet, civilians. What makes my life any better than theirs?" They were all looking at him now. "And I'm lucky compared to them. 23 days is a long time. That's a gift, not a curse."

No-one knew how to respond. Mogi still stood in silence, eyes darting between the other two and Ryuzaki, and Aizawa was now looking at L from the side. His body was so rigid it was shaking slightly. "Ryuzaki..."

"I'm not scared to die, Aizawa." L was angry that they were caring. "And frankly, if you weren't all over-reacting, my death wouldn't be a problem. I've tried to leave no-one behind to mourn for me, very much on purpose."

Aizawa continued to stare. "I'll admit this now, because the Chief isn't here, and I'm too much a coward to say it to his face. I hate Light completely. I hate him with every part of my being. He should burn in Hell."

"Aizawa!" Matsuda sounded pained.

"What, Matsuda?" Aizawa turned on him. "Do you have such a big heart, you can't even see right from wrong anymore? He's killed Ryuzaki!" He was pointing at L with one hand, while crowding in on Matsuda. "He betrayed us, you idiot, he played us, he murdered hundreds, he betrayed the CHIEF, and then, in the end, when we thought he'd finally finished, he has to come back and kill the one person we were lucky enough to get back. How can you NOT hate him? You idiot-"

Matsuda sat down in the chair as his legs bumped into it, looking on the verge of sobs. "They were different people! L said Light lost his memory, that he didn't remember being Kira for a long time, it-"

"How can you SAY that? Memory loss or not, he knew what he was doing! I'll bet you'll even take pity on Misa Amane, once she conveniently loses _her_ memory again, and you'll just forget that she killed our Ukita. You'll forget everything she did just because you can't stand feeling bad for people. When did you ever feel bad for Ryuzaki, huh? It was always, Ryuzaki is being so mean to poor Light and Misa, Ryuzaki is being so mean to the Chief, and now Ryuzaki is _dying_ and you still feel bad for the murderer-"

"Aizawa, stop." The room froze into a stillness, as they all noticed that Chief Soichiro Yagami was once again in the room with them. The Chief looked sternly at Aizawa. "Leave him alone. Matsuda has a stupidly large heart, yes, but I have to believe some part of my son was worth loving."

Aizawa straightened slowly, and then biting his lip and blinking quickly, wordlessly bowed to the Chief.

Yagami seemed to accept the apology, and let them move out of his way as he came to stand by L's bed. L had been avoiding looking at any of them.

"L."

"I don't need more sympathy, Yagami. If you insist on giving it to me, I'd much rather just be left alone."

"I know that." L blinked up, clearly surprised by the answer. The Chief was looking at him calmly. "If you can approach the end with this bravery, it's not our place to act out about it. I know you know how we feel. You know we're unhappy about it. All I can say is, anything you need, anything at all, we're here for you. You can depend on us as friends until the end, Ryuzaki. Will you accept this? And take us up on it?"

Slowly a delighted smile spread across L's face. Soichiro understood. He truly was a great man. "Yagami...I would be honored to call you all friends until the end. If I can ask for anything...that would be a great honor. Thank you, Yagami-san."

Yagami nodded, and then pragmatically replaced the chair from where it had been knocked aside, and settled into it. "Now that we know your secret, Ryuzaki, there's no point hiding the rest of the story. Do you have the strength to tell us what happened at headquarters? And why your name was written?"

L nodded, every part of him relieved and thankful for this outcome. "Gladly. Though first, I couldn't help noticing that the bag of Aka-chan Sugar Puffs is still under the chair…" Aizawa swallowed and abruptly looked away, but Matsuda bent down to fish for the sweets.

Ryuzaki nodded seriously. "That is one advantage: I can have all the sweets and morphine I want, and not fear long-term addiction or obesity." Matsuda didn't look sure if he wanted to cry or laugh at the statement, so his face settled for an absurd middle ground. He opened the bag and placed it beside L, who promptly picked one up pincer-like in his fingers and popped it in his mouth.

"Ryuzaki, you have a strange sense of humor."

L put another one in his cheek. "Humor? That was just a logical fact." After getting the desired sigh of exasperation from Yagami, L set about telling them his side of the story. It was tiring and even painful at times, but these were his friends, and they deserved a little effort to know the whole truth.

* * *

When he had finished and sagged back in utter exhaustion, the nurse knocked and came in to check on him. She noticed the opened bag of sweets, and though she scolded the investigators with a vengeance, she gave not a bad word to L, and eventually brought in a proper hospital meal. She hovered over Ryuzaki to make sure he was going to eat, and it was only after he made a show of eating jello that they persuaded her to leave. L promptly gave the meal to Matsuda, who accepted it gleefully.

Yagami stood. "Now, men, I'd like to have some time alone with Ryuzaki, if you don't mind." It wasn't a request, but it was more politely worded that way.

"Uh, sure Chief-" "No problem," "We'll be in the waiting room-" they flooded out, Matsuda sneaking behind Mogi's broad back so the nurses wouldn't see him holding Ryuzaki's tray. The door closed, and left the old man and the young man alone.

Yagami sat down again. "Now we know the whole story, but we still haven't gone over what happens next."

He could tell Ryuzaki was about to try and speak, and he raised his hand to stop him. "Please just listen. I know you're tired, and your thoughts can wait until you've rested more."

L accepted with a slight nod, and Soichiro noticed he was too tired to even lift his finger to his mouth anymore.

There was silence for some time as Yagami simply sat there, and L couldn't help looking at him curiously.

"Ryuzaki. This is difficult to say…I actually don't know how to say it." The older man ran his hand through his hair, looking suddenly tired and frazzled. Unsure of himself, even. "The media, as you know, is…the truth, Ryuzaki, about Kira's identity.._."_

"It's alright. I see no need for us to release Kira's identity to the public."

"Wha-what?" Soichiro stood up in surprise. "How did you know what-"

"You have a family, Chief Yagami. I know. I watched them closely for a long time." Ryuzaki's voice was quiet in exhaustion. "And Sayu seemed very close to her brother."

"I - It's true..." Yagami lowered his head, tormented. "My Sayu, she loves Light more than anyone alive. His being gone-" His voice cracked, but he plowed on. "His just being gone is already too much, much less knowing _that_."

"She never needs to know. She also doesn't need the media attention."

"Ryuzaki. You would allow this? To not reveal the truth? Why don't you just assume that I'm asking to hide my own shame? I'm being selfish, Ryuzaki."

L shrugged, and pushed a marshmallow into his cheek so it bulged outwards, exaggerating the bruise. "I know you better than that," he spoke around the food. "Right now you're torn between your need to protect your family and your ideals of just punishment. It has nothing to do with yourself."

"I'm relieved." Yagami sat down again, his shoulders sagging. "I was worried you would refuse. It would be proper for you to do so, because Light has wronged you more than anyone. It's selfish of me to want to protect one girl over the larger picture, and I believe Light should be properly punished, in death, but, I…."

"Kira has already been punished more thoroughly than human justice could ever accomplish. Now, our job is to avoid creating any more victims. To the world Light will not be Kira."

Yagami stared, and in his sitting position he bowed quickly. "Thank you."

L was embarrassed and looked down at the sheets again. "It is nothing, Yagami-san. Sayu is very lucky to have such a father."

Yagami shook his head. "No. I have been a poor father." He stared down into a moment of silence, and as L was about to open his mouth, continued talking. "I never understood. Work, and justice, and saving lives, that always took priority. But family…that always came second, in my mind. I was never home." He ran a finger over his palm. "Now, I finally think I understand what family means. It's selfishness. To hide Kira's identity just for a little girl; that's not justice. But suddenly I feel like I would sacrifice everything for her. Even my ideals, Ryuzaki."

"Yagami-san...in the car…" L looked away and said it in a rush, his voice suspiciously choked. "Thank you for saving me." _Thank you for saving me, even when it meant you had to leave your son_.

"Of course."

"Though out of curiosity...did you do that because it was the right thing to do?" L continued to look out the window, where white linen cloth obscured the sun. "Because it was just?"

There was a long silence, and L started to wonder if he'd pushed it, and if Yagami was going to answer. His stomach roiled, realizing Yagami was probably going to say yes. He'd saved L just because L was on the right side of the law.

Finally, "No. At that time, I had no thought for Justice."

L's eyes widened slightly and he saw Yagami looking troubled, and thoughtful. "I saved you instead of my son, because at that time…I think it was the same thing as with Sayu. I should have saved my son, yes, but his face was evil. And Ryuzaki…I have not known you as long as others, but at that moment, keeping you safe was more important than justice." _And fulfilling a promise to an old warrior._

There was another long silence, Yagami deep in thought. "Yes. I have learned what family is. And strange as it is, I suppose you are a part of it."

Yagami could tell by the strange play of emotions on Ryuzaki's face that he was touched. "I have never had a family. Yagami-san, thank you." He turned and gave Yagami a smile, the most open and communicative that Yagami had ever seen on his face. He couldn't help smiling back.

Ryuzaki broke their connection, and fished for another marshmallow. "And while I can't judge from personal experience, I know you are not a failure as a father. How Light went wrong was really beyond your power; he could have been a great man."

"If I had guided him better, or been there for him…" Yagami hit a wall as he tried to explain to himself the extreme polarization of Light's two identities. "Something went wrong."

"I already told you, the Death Note went wrong. And Yagami-san, I'd like to explain how. I think I owe this to you, and to Light. I had the opportunity to analyze his personality very thoroughly, and it does you great credit as a father."

"He was a murdering _psychopath_, L, don't mock me-"

"No, listen!" L looked at him with wide, intense eyes, trying to suck in shallow breaths. He was obviously in pain, and Yagami, realizing he was only upsetting L, did as told and settled down to listen to the younger man.

"If my analysis is correct, Light was a clinical sociopath from birth."

"That's impossible, he acted like a normal child…" Yagami realized he had interrupted, and snapped his mouth shut again.

"Light fits all the criteria for the clinical diagnosis, Yagami. The psychopaths you're used to dealing with are the murdering madmen, but you forget that many brilliant psychopaths fill up the CEO positions of the world. They show a cold, analytical brilliance, and an inability to make emotional connections. However, the more intelligent psychopaths, and especially one as brilliant as your son, can perfectly manipulate and recognize social cues, blend in to normal society, and be quite charismatic when they want to be. I've met quite a few of them, myself, worked with them on cases. But none quite as amazing as Light. I doubt that left to his own devices, Light would ever have become a killer, or even pushed moral boundaries. His firm upbringing, Yagami-san, was too rigid to allow that. It was his saving grace."

Yagami listened intently. "But the Death Note? The Death Note pushed him over?"

L nodded, looking down at his legs. "I don't believe it would necessarily take a psychopath to be a killer with the Death Note. Misa Amane killed almost more cruelly than Light, and she's just immature and selfish. It's because the Death Note allows you to kill from a distance. It's like sniping, or playing a video game."

"But what was his motivation? It can't really…"

"His training in Justice guided him, of course, but unfortunately Light was a narcissist. The power to kill triggered megalomania." He looked to Yagami. "Do you understand?"

"Yes. I want to. Though I'll always doubt it, but it would make it easier to believe he was born with it."

L poked at a marshmallow, until the action made his arm tweak in pain. "Not that I'm excusing him. Just analyzing him."

Yagami stayed quiet for some time, and they both drifted off into their own thoughts. Soichiro tried to make sense of it. Had his son been acting the entire time? It had all been a sham? No…but he had seen some strange behaviors. How Light had trouble interacting with other children in primary school. How angry he would get when something didn't go his way. The time they'd watched an injured dog dying in the street. Sayu had sobbed, but Light had just watched the animal writhe in fascination. But had he-

"I'm not saying he was faking his life." Ryuzaki had been reading his mind. "I have no doubt he did his best to fit in, and to show the proper emotions. He wasn't faking maliciously."

Yagami nodded, and a thought came to him. "Ryuzaki. Are you a psychopath?"

He watched closely as a smile ghosted across L's face, and he picked at a small bandage on his arm. "No."

Yagami waited for L to say something more, and after some time, L did. "Though at times I wish I was." He turned to Yagami with his eyes softened in what could have been amusement. "I, Yagami, am a particular mix of Asperger's syndrome, childhood trauma, and social phobia."

"Ah. Mild autism. That explains why you don't wear shoes."

"Does it? Ah, yes, I suppose I have rather particular sensibilities."

"And so what am I?"

"You, Yagami-san? There is nothing wrong with you."

There was a knock on the door, and Yagami stopped his next comment to look that way. "Come."

Matsuda's head popped in, looking earnest about something. "You aren't going to believe what's on the television right now." He tumbled into the room, Aizawa and Mogi crowding in after him.

Matsuda turned on the TV, and changed from a cooking show to a channel replaying the footage of Soichiro wading through a crowd of reporters outside the hospital. An onsite reporter appeared on the screen. "We're still looking into clues on why Soichiro Yagami, the revealed leader of the Kira investigation, is currently in Ozu hospital. How is his dead son connected to the Kira investigation? Has Kira been caught? The world is desperate for news. With Kira's approval rate at over 70 percent in Japan, and with members of Congress in both America and Japan supporting his vigilante justice, the backlash against the investigation team could be considerable."

The screen cut to an interview with a punk youth on the streets. "I hope they didn't catch Kira, I think he's cool. I mean, it's not cool that the son is dead and stuff, but they shouldn't have messed with Kira like that. They should just-"

Mogi reached up and hit the mute button, before frowning grimly at L and Yagami. "Ide asked if we should perpetuate the myth that Kira is alive, in order to keep criminal activity down. I disagree with this, but I want to know what you think."

L shook his head. "Never. Even the idea of Kira must die. Yes, it would keep crime down, but at the cost of human freedom."

"Kira may gather even greater cult status in death," Aizawa pessimistically reminded them.

Yagami rubbed his temple and sighed. "The world is silly, and simple at times. All we can do is try and deflate it as much as possible." He glanced at L. He noticed that compared to just a few minutes ago, he looked more awake, and some pale color had returned to his cheeks. Being back on the case must have helped.

L's thumb was also back in his mouth. "That was actually Kira's greatest oversight. He could have appealed to the public, which would have been a force we'd be hard-pressed to deal with. But he never tapped into his followers. He was too used to working alone. He was too obsessed with the game he was playing, trying to trick us."

Matsuda blinked, his eyes as expressive as L's were blank. "He tapped into one of his followers, he allowed Misa to worship him." They were back to talking about Kira the myth. In their minds, Light had little to do with the Kira on the television.

L's gaze unfocused. "Misa Amane, one of the most interesting things to happen. Where is she now?"

Aizawa answered. "She's in this same hospital, handcuffed and under constant police surveillance. She wouldn't calm down, so she's been put under sedation.

L's eyes stayed unfocused. "Misa is an anomaly. You realize she was much more powerful than Kira ever was. She was willing to buy the eyes."

Matsuda blinked in confusion. "Buy the eyes?"

"She could have killed him, she could have done absolutely anything." L didn't seem to hear Matsuda. "And she was decently smart, and ruthless."

Matsuda knitted his brow. "I still don't understand her motivation...I get her parents being avenged by Kira, but..."

"Who knows. I don't think it was actually love...it was more of a worship, but in a very self-centered, self-serving way. It was a very conscious choice.

Aizawa leaned against the wall. "What will happen to her? Do we reveal she was the second Kira?

L shook his head, and all the investigators made little noises of surprise. Before they could interrupt, L explained himself. "We aren't revealing Kira's identity either."

"We're not?" Aizawa gaped, before straightening, looking at all the others. "We don't have to? I mean, I thought we had to because it's justice and all…"

"All that matters now is keeping the public safe," Ryuzaki responded, sharing a quick, meaningful glance with Yagami, who gave him a small nod of thanks. "We have to be aware of how our actions affect the current worship movements. Misa Amane is a beautiful pop star with a good reputation. If Kira's followers found she was the second Kira, she could easily rise to cult status."

Matsuda nodded, understanding. "And if they found out about Light, and saw how handsome he was, and smart, and studied law…" he trailed off, not liking where the thread was taking him.

L saved him from continuing. "Correct. Ideally, we would scapegoat Kira as somebody no one could like...say, a middle-aged, ugly, self-centered pervert. It would destroy Kira's image."

Mogi smiled. "Let's use the Chief Counselor."

Yagami glared and Mogi withered. "Sorry."

Matsuda thought about the idea. "Would we actually put him on trial? I mean, the pervert, or whatever?"

Aizawa rolled his eyes at Matsuda. "No, we wouldn't need to put the pervert on trial. We could just tell the public Kira's dead, and give them a mug shot. That way there wouldn't be a big ruckus about a trial, anyway."

Matsuda's shoulders slumped, and he looked over at Ryuzaki with unhappy eyes. "I don't know if I could handle that, making up all that stuff. What if the media found out it was fake? Couldn't we just keep it simple and say Kira was killed?"

L shrugged, and tried to keep from wincing. He kept forgetting about his bicep, which seemed injured enough that the morphine wasn't completely effective. "It's your choice. I won't be around to see how everything shapes up, so I trust that you'll be able to respond to what happens and act accordingly."

Aizawa smiled. "You really trust us?"

L smiled back. "How could I not? After how you handled the last affair, let me just say I'm glad I put my trust in all of you from the beginning. I've never been more pleased with any single decision I've made in my life."

Aizawa darkened. "We didn't stop you from getting your name written."

"That was my own oversight. I was too cocky. I knowingly left Kira and the Death Note together, unprotected. I assumed I understood his character better than I did. I regret, then, that you had put your trust in me. By doing so, I endangered all your lives. And resulted in the deaths of many others." _Innocents. And Watari._

"Well, we're all alive, aren't we, Ryuzaki?" Matsuda smiled and motioned to his fellows.

"This is true. It's a great relief."

There was a knock at the door, and the nurse entered. "Hello. Sirs, if you don't mind, I think it's time you let the patient rest. We also have to do some tests and make sure there isn't any more internal bleeding going on."

Yagami nodded, and climbed to his feet, stretching. "Our interrogation is done for now. Ryuzaki, you should rest."

"And you as well, Yagami-san. Though I fear that may not be possible with everything occurring right now." Ryuzaki nodded firmly. "I will have the report to you by tomorrow evening, and will be there to help you deal with the media, if necessary."

"We may need some help, that would be appreciated."

"If you could simply bring me a new cellphone, you'll be able to reach me," L added.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, and all the investigators looked slightly confused. "But you can just ask the nurse to come get one of us," Matsuda responded. L still looked confused, to the point that Yagami couldn't help a grin. It was an extremely funny expression on L.

"Ryuzaki, did you really think we were going to leave you here? One of us will be here at all times."

"Ah. Thank you, but sitting in a hospital is hardly a good use of your time-"

Yagami shrugged. "I can't think of a better use for it. And besides, I can't think of any of the nurses supporting your dietary habits without some interference."

Aizawa grinned. "They wouldn't put up with you."

Ryuzaki didn't really know what to say. Something clever? Something intelligent? He just nodded.

The nurse, who had been listening to them patiently, took that moment to start shooing them out. Straight-faced Mogi was first out the door, Matsuda second, and managed to get one last look and beam meaningfully at L, and awkwardly express something with a sloppy salute, and then Aizawa, who mouthed "I'll be outside" to L and then managed to glare at the nurse as she literally pushed him out the door. Aizawa asked her a question, and after closing it halfway, she disappeared into the hall for a moment as well.

Yagami was left, and he could see how L looked truly exhausted again. "Ryuzaki. Call me immediately if you need anything, I can come anytime. I'll be playing some interference with the media, and then I'm going home to see Sayu and my wife. I'll be back tomorrow morning."

L frowned. "You really don't need to come in. I'm a very independent person, Yagami-san."

"I know. But one of the let-downs of friends and family is you often can't get rid of them, Ryuzaki."

Yagami walked partially towards the door, and paused to think for a second, before turning back thoughtfully. "You know, Ryuzaki. My son…if nothing had happened, I would have been very proud if he had turned out anything like you."

There was a silence for some time, a slightly awkward one. "Even the sweet-eating, Yagami-san?"

"Well, no, if I'd had the privilige of raising you, I would never have allowed your horrible eating habits. Or your posture."

"The truth comes out, Yagami! I knew the sucrose bothered you."

Yagami sniffed. "Nevertheless, the rest of the team is so used to spoiling you, I'm sure you'll have no dearth of sugar in here."

"Well then, if I'm stuck with you, remind them I only like Earl Gray tea with sugarcubes, no lemon. And if anyone gets the chance, there's a large amount of lemon meringue in the fridge at headquarters, and I fear it may be going bad soon-"

"I get it, I get it." Yagami rolled his eyes. "You can be assured, Ryuzaki, that while Aizawa may gladly drive to Okinawa to get you candy, _I_ am a professional, and will be doing no such thing. It's ridiculous."

Ryuzaki graced him with a sly smile, made all the more ridiculous by the large bandage on his forehead and the associated disaster that was his hair. Yagami shook his head. "And try not to confuse the nurses."

"I'll behave, Yagami-san."

The nurse-reentered, and with a final nod, Yagami left the room. As the nurse in and closed the door, she came to his side and began taking off bandages. Ryuzaki almost immediately felt his tiredness taking over. He brought his thumb to his lip as she adjusted something or other to one side.

"I'll admit, young man, that was one of the strangest police interrogations I've seen. Not that it's my business, but they seemed quite protective of you." L watched as she flicked the tip of a syringe. She applied it to his arm, and L felt nothing as she pushed the needle in. "I see that a lot when a policeman gets injured, their comrades always worry so much. It's hard on the nurses, you can never get them to leave. Were these your friends?"

L was silent for awhile, just watching the liquid in the syringe go into his bloodstream. "Yes."

"You're a lucky young man. The worst is when we get a patient who's completely alone. That's difficult." She pulled out the syringe and began busily doing something else, and L felt the drug taking effect, and sleep coming to him.

And finally he realized that he'd defeated Kira in another way. In the end, Light had died alone, even though he'd spent his entire life surrounded by the closest of family and friends, with more support than perhaps any one person deserved. L, with his life of extreme solitude, was not dying alone. L had mastered his fear of death a long time ago, but he had not mastered his fear of others dying, or the grief surrounding death. That was why he had tried to distance himself from even Watari, with only partial success. But in the end, he hadn't been able to escape it. Now the bravest people he knew were willing to become his friends, even though that meant they would have to feel pain when he died. For them to do that, they validated that there was a part of him worth caring about, a part that wasn't the detective.

He felt a calm happiness knowing he'd come to feel the same for them. He realized he even felt the same for Light Yagami. In the end Justice had prevailed, and it had proved to be something out of either L's or Light's hands. But that didn't mean he couldn't mourn Light. The tragedy was that the boy had died thinking he was alone. He'd been wrong. Maybe for every person, no matter how evil or misguided, there was always a little sister who cried. It was the only proof you had been alive.


End file.
